Hayes
Feminine · “enclosure”
Hayes is given to both — 961 girls and 20,925 boys since 1880. See Hayes as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Hayes is the hedged enclosure — the Old English hæg — and the same word gives haw, hawthorn and the hedge itself.
How old is the name Hayes?
Hayes first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Hayes is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Hayes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hayes most popular?
Hayes peaked in 2020, reaching #1948 nationally. Today it ranks #2139, 191 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From hæg to Hayes
The story of Hayes
Hæg named a fenced piece of ground and gives haw, hawthorn and hedge — the plant named for the job it did. Hayes is a common English surname and a separate anglicization of the Irish Ó hAodha. It entered American given-name use for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaning
enclosure, hedged place
From the Old English hæg, 'enclosure' or 'fence', related to hecg, 'hedge'. The surname located a family by one. The same element stands behind The Hague and the German Hagen. An Irish Ó hAodha, 'descendant of Aodh', is a separate source for some bearers.
How the name formed
- hæg
- Hayes
Related forms: Hays · Ó hAodha
Pronouncing Hayes
HAYZ
One syllable. Hayes and Hays are homophones; only the spelling differs.
Nicknames for Hayes
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1993
- Most girls named
- 202098 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1948reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +22.5%87 in 2025, from 71
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hayes in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hays in English — spelling variant
- Ó hAodha in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, North Carolina.
Hayess among us
people named Hayes are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 18,474 born in 2025 was named Hayes
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The September test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hayes's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: September climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and September's path sketches the road Hayes is walking now.
Hayes sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hayes is headed
Hayes should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hayes beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hayes in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That hawthorn is named for the hedge it made is a genuinely good etymology.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It has both English and Irish ancestries available.
- It reads as masculine and as a surname to most English speakers.
- The final s invites constant correction.
- It is very new as a girls' name.
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Hayes
Feminine · #2139 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hayess are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Hayes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hayes in 2025?
- Hayes ranks #2139 among US girl names in 2025, with 87 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hayes?
- About 1 in every 18,474 US girls born in 2025 was named Hayes — 87 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hayes with classmates?
- Hayes will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hayes
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rihanna#2139 · Alizah#2139 · Sianna#2139 · Sabine#2139 · Isabell#2139 · Ofelia#2139 · Lizzie#2139 · Amiracle#2139
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hayes? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hayes and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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