Popularity of the name Henry, 1880–2025

Henry was at its most popular in 1881, when 2,339 boys were given the name: about 1 in 43 boys born in the U.S. that year, ranking #8. In 2025, 12,020 boys were named Henry, ranking #5. In all, Social Security counts 768,945 boys named Henry since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 4,619 girls named Henry. Its peak falls in the earliest years of the records, and counts from before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card.

Peak year

1881

Rank in 1881

#8

Babies in 1881

2,339

Rank in 2025

#5

Total since 1880

768,945

Where it stands now

Over the last ten years it has climbed from #29 in 2015 to #5 in 2025, with 10,186 boys named Henry in 2015 and 12,020 in 2025.

Decade by decade

Henry ranked highest in the 2020s so far, at #7, with 68,047 boys given the name that decade. It started at #8 in the 1880s.

Every 20 years in the records: 2,444 in 1880 (#9), 2,606 in 1900 (#10), 11,305 in 1920 (#17), 6,822 in 1940 (#31), 4,968 in 1960 (#84), 2,071 in 1980 (#135), 3,127 in 2000 (#126) and 10,793 in 2020 (#9).

Highs and lows

The most boys given the name in a single year was 12,020, in 2025. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more boys for 2025 than for 1881, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #5, first reached in 2025.

Every year

The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 boys named Henry, with the name’s rank that year.

How these numbers are counted

Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.