Houston
Masculine · “Hugh's settlement”
Houston is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 18,104 boys against 436 girls since 1880.
Houston began as a place in Renfrewshire, Scotland — a settlement named for its twelfth-century Anglo-Norman lord, Hugh. From there it became a surname, crossed the Atlantic, and ended up on one of the largest cities in the United States. Three syllables that start with a soft glide and land on a firm stop: HYOO-stən.
How old is the name Houston?
Houston was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Houston alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 12,500 people named Houston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Houston most popular?
Houston peaked in 1901, reaching #318 nationally. Today it ranks #675, 357 places below that high. See the whole 1901 chart.
Houston appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Hugh to Houston
The story of Houston
The name is Scottish and geographic before it is anything else: Houstoun in Renfrewshire, the lands of Hugh, which passed into use as a family name for those who came from there. Scottish and Ulster-Scots families carried it to North America, where surnames of that kind were freely recycled as first names. The best-known bearer was Sam Houston, the soldier and politician for whom the Texas city was named after his victory at San Jacinto in 1836 — which is why the name still clusters most thickly in Texas and the neighboring South. As a given name it has appeared on American records continuously ever since, never in a rush and never absent.
Meaning
Hugh's settlement, or Hugh's town
The Scottish parish of Houston takes its name from Hugh de Padvinan, who held the lands in the twelfth century; the second element is the Old English tun, a farmstead or settlement.
How the name formed
- Hugh
- HoustounRenfrewshire place name
- HoustonScottish surname
- Houstongiven name
Related forms: Houstoun · Huston · Hugh
Pronouncing Houston
HYOO-stən
Stress on the first syllable. Note that Houston Street in Manhattan is pronounced HOW-stən after an unrelated family — the given name follows the Scottish and Texan pronunciation, HYOO-stən.
Nicknames for Houston
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
- 2025402 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #318reached in 1901
- Change vs 2022
- +5.8%402 in 2025, from 380
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.
Houston in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Houstoun in Scots — spelling variant
- Huston in English — spelling variant
- Hugh in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, Alabama.
Houstons among us
people named Houston are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,249 born in 2025 was named Houston
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
Houston 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 Houston is headed
Houston should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Houston beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Houston in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A spelling nearly every American already knows from the map, so it rarely needs to be spelled out loud.
- A clear, documented meaning: Hugh's settlement, traceable to a specific Scottish parish.
- An unbroken record on US name rolls since the nineteenth century, without ever becoming crowded.
- Works in the familiar American pattern of surname-as-first-name, alongside names like Wilson and Carter.
- It is a major city first for most people, and that association comes up constantly — in weather reports, sports, airports. Some families like the anchor; others find the questions repetitive.
- The Apollo 13 line, "Houston, we have a problem," is deeply lodged in American speech, and a child with the name will hear it more than once.
- Pronunciation is settled for the name, but anyone who knows the Manhattan street may say HOW-stən on first meeting.
- There is no obvious short form built into the spelling; the affectionate options come from the Hugh root rather than from the name itself.
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What they receive
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Houston
Masculine · #675 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Houstons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,500 people named Houston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Houston in 2025?
- Houston ranks #675 among US boy names in 2025, with 402 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Houston?
- About 1 in every 4,249 US boys born in 2025 was named Houston — 402 in all.
- Will my child share the name Houston with classmates?
- Houston will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Houston
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Madden#675 · Zaid#675 · Vincenzo#674 · Benicio#672 · Gerardo#678 · Wilson#672 · Salem#679 · Trevor#679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Houston? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Houston and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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