Holt
Masculine · “small wood”
Holt is a small wood in Old English — holt, an ordinary word for a copse, still used in place names and by foresters.
How old is the name Holt?
Holt first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Holt is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Holt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Holt most popular?
Holt peaked in 1906, reaching #1253 nationally. Today it ranks #1919, 666 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Holt appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From holt to Holt
The story of Holt
Holt villages and hamlets appear across England, and the surname is topographic — someone living by a copse. Holt is also the word for an otter's den. The surname entered American given-name use recently, part of the wide one-syllable surname movement of the 2010s, and appears in the registers in current use.
Meaning
small wood, copse
From the Old English holt, 'wood' or 'copse', shared with the German Holz, 'timber', and the Dutch hout. It survives in English place names and in the vocabulary of forestry and hunting. The word is ordinary and the meaning undisputed.
How the name formed
- holt
- Holt
Related forms: Holz · Hout · Holt
Pronouncing Holt
HOHLT
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Holt
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
- 1906
- Most boys named
- 202384 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1253reached in 1906
- Change vs 2023
- −3.6%81 in 2025, from 84
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.
Holt in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Holz in German — related form
- Hout in Dutch — related form
- Holt in Danish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee.
Holts among us
people named Holt are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 21,087 born in 2025 was named Holt
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
Holt 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 Holt is headed
Holt should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Holt beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Holt in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and the word is still in working use among foresters.
- That it also names an otter's den is a genuinely good detail.
- One syllable, firm, and never mispronounced.
- It reads as a surname before it reads as a given name.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
- It is very new as a given name.
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What they receive
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Holt
Masculine · #1919 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Holts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Holt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Holt in 2025?
- Holt ranks #1919 among US boy names in 2025, with 81 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Holt?
- About 1 in every 21,087 US boys born in 2025 was named Holt — 81 in all.
- Will my child share the name Holt with classmates?
- Holt will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Holt
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Karsen#1919 · Lou#1919 · Asad#1919 · Elwood#1919 · Mikel#1919 · Azari#1919 · Jawad#1919 · Hendrick#1919
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Holt? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Holt and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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