Hayes

What Hayes means

Means “brushwood”

As an English locational surname, from Old English hæs (“brushwood”) (see hris) and Middle English hay (“enclosure”), heye.

Source: Wiktionary, “Hayes” (revision 93459533), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Hayes?

US: Rising: up from #539 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #4747 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 2,240 boys got the name (#162 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 763 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,712 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,910 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (9.17 per 1,000 boys), ND (6.85 per 1,000 boys), MT (5.84 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Hayes is #162 in the US and #1066 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.3% of US babies named Hayes were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Hayez5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Hayes

Boys

• Ford#474Editor’s note Up from #741 in 2015 to #474 in 2025 in the US
• Oakley#454“oak + woodland clearing, glade”^*
• Sutton#332“south + town”^*
• Callan#190“descendant of Cathalán”^*
• Fletcher#545“arrow-maker”^*
• Jensen#282Editor’s note Up from #395 in 2015 to #282 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Hayes’s. Rank is US 2025.