Hugo

What Hugo means

Means “thought, mind, spirit”

From Old French Hugo, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *hugi (“thought, mind, spirit”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Hugo” (revision 93878834), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Hugo?

US: Rising: up from #432 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #55 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 837 boys got the name (#377 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,041 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 249 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 446 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 WA (1.34 per 1,000 boys), NH (1.11 per 1,000 boys), NV (1.06 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Hugo is #377 in the US and #46 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Hugo were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Hugo

Boys

• Kai#93“warrior”^*
• Bruno#740“brown”^*
• Myles#100Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #223 in 2015, #100 in 2025
• Milo#119Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #288 in 2015, #119 in 2025
• Axel#79Editor’s note Up from #123 in 2015 to #79 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 410 US boys in the 2025 records
• Otto#277“wealth, riches”^*

For a sister

• Adeline#59Form of Adela, meaning “noble”^*
• Emory#339Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #339 vs #3,705 in 2025
• Alina#130Editor’s note Up from #173 in 2015 to #130 in 2025 in the US
• Lorelai#333Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #333 vs #807 in 2025
• Evelyn#8Same root as Eileen, possibly meaning “radiance, beauty”^*
• Adaline#208Form of Adela, meaning “noble”^*

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