ninan.org

Howard

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~122,500 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,002 among boys
Births in 2025
226 348,342 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Howard popularity over time

Howard rank by birth year, 1880–2025Howard ranked #44 in 1880 and #1,002 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #24, in 1919.#100#1,000#1,002best #24 in 191918901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1921: 7,749 births recorded as Howard. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 79 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #1,002 with 226 births. Year on year the rank improved by 55.

Babies named Howard per yearPeaks at 7,749 births in 1921.7,749 in 1921018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Howard?

About 122,500 people named Howard are alive in the United States today. That is out of 348,342 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Howard?

The typical living Howard is 68 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Howard a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Howard

Ages of living people named HowardHalf of living Howards are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Howard is most common

The name is concentrated in Minnesota, at 3.8× the national rate. Wisconsin, Utah and Washington follow.

Where Howard is used more than average5 states use the name Howard more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.6× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 3.8× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: 2.7× the national rateWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: 2.2× the national rateUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: 1.4× the national rateMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Howard is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Minnesota 116 3.8×
Wisconsin 77 2.7×
Utah 50 2.2×
Washington 64 1.6×
Missouri 48 1.4×

Howard in England and Wales

ONS recorded 13 births named Howard in 2025, ranking it #1,897. That is 30% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Howard comes from

Medieval personal name from Middle English Howard, Howarde, from Old Norse Hávarðr, from hár (“high”) + varðr (“guard”). In some cases a variant of Heward, from Old French Huard.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Howard

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Howard Carter British egyptologist 1874–1939 87
Howard Hughes American aviator, engineer, industrialist, and film producer 1905–1976 76
Howard Florey Australian pathologist 1898–1968 66
Howard Hawks American film director, producer and screenwriter 1896–1977 56
Howard Zinn American historian, playwright, and socialist thinker 1922–2010 55
Howard Gardner American developmental psychologist & academic 1943 54
Howard Shore Canadian film score composer 1946 53
Howard Webb English football referee 1971 53
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,473 in 1911 to 3,231 in 1912 — 2.2 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/howard.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).