Holland
Masculine · “most likely "wood land”
Holland is given to both — 3,172 boys and 7,835 girls since 1880. See Holland as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Holland is a place before it is a person: a low, watery corner of the Netherlands whose name the Dutch have carried since the Middle Ages, and also two older English districts, in Lincolnshire and Lancashire, that gave the surname to families centuries ago. Said aloud it lands in two easy beats, HAH-luhnd, with the same warm opening syllable as Holly — which is exactly what it gets shortened to.
How old is the name Holland?
Holland first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Holland alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 2,200 people named Holland are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Holland most popular?
Holland peaked in 1893, reaching #705 nationally. Today it ranks #1366, 661 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Middle Dutch holtland to Holland
The story of Holland
Both roads to this name start with ground. The Dutch county of Holland gave its name to the region, then loosely to the whole country, and eventually to ships, tunnels and trading houses named for it; in England, villages called Holland and Upholland produced a surname carried by families from the medieval period onward. Like Sutton, Preston or Kirkland, that surname crossed into American use as a first name in the long nineteenth- and twentieth-century habit of promoting family names to given ones. It sat quietly on American records for generations before the recent, steep climb it is in now.
Meaningscholars disagree
most likely "wood land"
The Dutch Holland is generally traced to Middle Dutch holtland, "wood land" — holt, wood, plus land. A rival reading, "hollow land," is widely repeated and fits the flat, drained landscape, but philologists give it less weight. The English Holland, in Lincolnshire and Lancashire, is a separate formation, usually read as land by a hill-spur or ridge. So the name carries at least two honest answers depending on which Holland you mean.
How the name formed
- Middle Dutch holtland
- Hollant
- Holland
Related forms: Holland · Hollande · Holanda · Olanda
Pronouncing Holland
HAH-luhnd
Stress on the first syllable. English speakers rarely hesitate, because the place name is already familiar; the Dutch say it closer to HOL-lahnt.
Nicknames for Holland
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 2025136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #705reached in 1893
- Change vs 2022
- +21.4%136 in 2025, from 112
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.
Holland in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Holland in Dutch — same name
- Hollande in French — related form
- Holanda in Spanish — related form
- Olanda in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, California.
Hollands among us
people named Holland are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 12,559 born in 2025 was named Holland
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Holland 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 Holland is headed
Holland looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 17% 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.
Holland beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Holland in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A spelling nobody has to be taught — the place name is known worldwide, so it is spelled right on the first try far more often than most rising names.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Holly, that already stands on its own as a given name.
- One name, not two: it reaches boys and girls by the same route, as a place and surname, so neither side is a borrowing from the other.
- A documented history of several centuries as a Dutch region and an English surname, well behind the recent fashion for it.
- It reads as a country, and people will sometimes assume Dutch heritage or ask about it. Worth deciding in advance whether that is a pleasant conversation or a tiresome one.
- Boys named Holland are the real minority here. A boy will meet the occasional assumption that the name is a girl's, and will more often hear the surname reading first.
- It is climbing quickly. A Holland starting school now will almost certainly be the only one, but the name will likely feel more familiar by the time she or he is grown.
- Holly is such a natural shortening that it may end up doing most of the daily work — fine if you like it, worth a thought if you do not.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Holland to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Holland? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Holland
Masculine · #1366 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hollands are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Holland are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Holland in 2025?
- Holland ranks #1366 among US boy names in 2025, with 136 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Holland?
- About 1 in every 12,559 US boys born in 2025 was named Holland — 136 in all.
- Will my child share the name Holland with classmates?
- Holland will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Holland
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jeriah#1366 · Bohdi#1366 · Kye#1366 · Baron#1370 · Warner#1362 · Bernard#1362 · Shaya#1370 · Perry#1370
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Holland? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Holland and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle