Hersh
Masculine · “deer”
Hersh is a deer. It is the Yiddish for a stag, and it belongs to one of the more elegant arrangements in Jewish naming: a Yiddish name that translates a Hebrew one, so that a man carries the same animal in two languages.
How old is the name Hersh?
Hersh first appears in US birth records in 1959 — 66 years ago. The typical Hersh alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 900 people named Hersh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hersh most popular?
Hersh peaked in 2002, reaching #2755 nationally. Today it ranks #2833, 78 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hirsch to Hersh
The story of Hersh
Ashkenazi naming developed a system of paired names: a Hebrew name for religious use and a Yiddish one for daily life, often linked by meaning or by an image from Jacob's blessing of his sons. Tzvi and Hersh are the deer pair; Aryeh and Leib are the lion; Ze'ev and Wolf are the wolf. The animals come largely from that blessing, where the sons are described in animal terms. Hersh reaches United States records with Ashkenazi families and remains most at home in observant communities, spelled Hersh, Hirsh or Hirsch.
Meaning
deer, stag
Yiddish hirsh means a stag, and it is the same word as German Hirsch. It works as a kinnui — a vernacular name paired with a Hebrew one of matching sense — so a Hersh is very often a Tzvi in Hebrew, tzvi being the Hebrew for a deer. The two names are given together and used in different settings. The reading is documented and not in dispute.
How the name formed
- Hirsch
- Hersh
Related forms: Hirsh · Hirsch · Tzvi
Pronouncing Hersh
HERSH
One syllable, rhyming with the first part of Hershey. The German Hirsch has a slightly different vowel; the Yiddish and American saying is the one this spelling records.
Nicknames for Hersh
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
- 1959
- Most boys named
- 202444 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2755reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%44 in 2025, from 44
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.
Hersh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hirsh in Yiddish — spelling variant
- Hirsch in German — related form
- Tzvi in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York.
Hershs among us
people named Hersh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 38,820 born in 2025 was named Hersh
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 Drewey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hersh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Drewey climbed just as high around 1925, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Drewey's path sketches the road Hersh is walking now.
Hersh 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 Hersh is headed
Hersh looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. 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.
Hersh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hersh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A concrete meaning — an animal, not a virtue — and a documented one.
- Hershel stands beside it as a longer form with a very long record of its own.
- Five letters, one syllable, and no ambiguity in the sound.
- It is close to the name of a well-known chocolate company, and the joke will be made.
- Hersh, Hirsh and Hirsch are all in use and belong to slightly different communities.
- It is strongly identified with observant Ashkenazi families, which is either the point or something to weigh.
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Hersh
Masculine · #2833 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hershs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Hersh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hersh in 2025?
- Hersh ranks #2833 among US boy names in 2025, with 44 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hersh?
- About 1 in every 38,820 US boys born in 2025 was named Hersh — 44 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hersh with classmates?
- Hersh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hersh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bayron#2833 · Odysseus#2833 · Mahlon#2833 · Ward#2833 · Jarvis#2833 · Abriel#2833 · Alain#2833 · Josef#2833
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hersh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hersh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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