Houston

What Houston means

Means “Hugh s town”

Originally from a place near Glasgow, from the Middle English equivalent of " Hugh 's town".

Source: Wiktionary, “Houston” (revision 94540146), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Houston?

US: Rising: up from #850 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1901, when 31 boys got the name (#318 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,249 baby boys in the US 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 MS (1.2 per 1,000 boys), WV (1.14 per 1,000 boys), AL (1.07 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Houston is #675 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 97.3% of US babies named Houston 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

• Heston60 US
• Hesston18 US
• Hayston10 US
• Huston10 US
• Haston6 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 Houston

Boys

• Ridge#529From the word “ridge”^*
• Bellamy#721“fair + friend”^*
• Baker#217From a surname for “a baker, or owner of a communal oven”^*
• Wells#345“spring”^*
• Walker#78Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #340 in 2015, #78 in 2025
• Murphy#754“descendant of Murrough”^*

For a sister

• Murphy#397“descendant of Murrough”^*
• Fallon#778“descendant of Fallamhan”^*
• Merritt#703Editor’s note Used for both: 77% of US babies named Merritt in 2025 were girls
• Blake#295“black”^*
• Quincy#814Editor’s note Used for both: 44% of US babies named Quincy in 2025 were girls
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*

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 Houston’s. Rank is US 2025.