Hayes
Masculine · Old English roots · “hedge”
Hayes is given to both — 20,925 boys and 961 girls since 1880. See Hayes as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Hayes began as a place before it was a person — the Old English word for a hedge or an enclosed field, which became the surname of families who lived beside one. A second, entirely separate line runs through Ireland, where Ó hAodha was anglicized to the same spelling. One syllable, four letters, and no confusion about how to say it.
How old is the name Hayes?
Hayes was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Hayes is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 19,500 people named Hayes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hayes most popular?
Hayes peaked in 2024, reaching #160 nationally. Today it ranks #162, 2 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From hæg (Old English) to Hayes
The story of Hayes
Both lines are surnames first. In medieval England, people recorded as atte Hay or de la Haye were identified by the hedge or enclosure they lived beside, and the name settled into Hayes. In Ireland, clerks writing down Ó hAodha in English reached for the nearest familiar spelling, and a patronymic meaning "descendant of Aodh" arrived at the same four letters. Both streams crossed the Atlantic in quantity, and Hayes became a common American surname — most visibly in Rutherford B. Hayes, president from 1877 to 1881. Its move to the front of the name, like Hudson's and Sawyer's, is a much more recent American habit, and it has taken hold most firmly in Texas, California and North Carolina.
Meaningscholars disagree
"hedge, enclosure" (English) or "descendant of Aodh" (Irish)
Two well-documented origins share the spelling. The English Hayes is topographic, from Old English hæg, a hedge or fenced enclosure, used of people who lived by one. The Irish Hayes is an anglicization of Ó hAodha, from the personal name Aodh, meaning "fire" — the same root that produced the surname Hughes. Neither reading cancels the other; which one a family carries depends on where the family came from.
How the name formed
- hægOld English
- atte Hay / de la Haye
- Hayes
Related forms: Ó hAodha · Hays · Hughes · Hay · Aodh
Pronouncing Hayes
HAYZ
One syllable, rhyming with "days." The final s is voiced, like a z. Almost no one hesitates over it on first reading.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20252,240 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #160reached in 2024
- Change vs 2022
- +26.2%2,240 in 2025, from 1,775
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
- Ó hAodha in Irish — related form
- Hays in English — spelling variant
- Hughes in Welsh/English — related form
- Hay in Scots — related form
- Aodh 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 boy in 763 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 Wilbert 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: Wilbert climbed just as high around 1920, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wilbert's path sketches the road Hayes is walking now.
Hayes is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
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 looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 28% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and one obvious pronunciation — people say it right the first time and rarely ask again.
- A spelling already familiar to Americans as a surname, so it looks like a real name on a form rather than an invention.
- Two separate documented heritages, English and Irish, which lets a family claim whichever line is actually theirs.
- Centuries of unbroken written record behind it, long before it was ever used as a first name.
- Short enough to sit comfortably in front of a long or multi-syllable surname.
- It is still read as a surname by many people, and Hayes as a first name is a recent American development. Expect the occasional assumption that it is your family name, especially from older generations.
- There is nowhere to go with it. Hayes is already as short as it gets, so a child who wants a nickname will have to invent one, and the closest option, Hay, doesn't do much.
- Hays, Haze and Hayes all sound identical aloud, so spelling it out over the phone will be a lifelong small habit.
- The name is climbing steadily. A child born now may be the only Hayes in the building, while a cousin born several years later shares the name with two classmates.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Hayes
Masculine · Old English roots · #162 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 19,500 people named Hayes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hayes in 2025?
- Hayes ranks #162 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,240 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hayes?
- About 1 in every 763 US boys born in 2025 was named Hayes — 2,240 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.
Ivan#162 · Hayden#161 · Ace#164 · Elliott#160 · Jason#165 · Juan#159 · Diego#158 · Connor#166
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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