Boys' name · peaked in 1893
Herman name popularity since 1925
85,687 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Herman (0.6% girls, 99.4% boys). Half of them were born in 1944 or earlier, so the typical Herman is about 82 years old in 2026. Herman peaked in 1893 as the #44 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 85,687
- Named Herman, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1893
- #44 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,368 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.4% boys
- 550 girls · 85,137 boys
- Most popular in
- Louisiana
- 3.16× its national share
Peak year is the year Herman made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Herman births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Herman peaked earlier, in 1893.
- Steepest fall: Between 1996 and 2001, Herman's share of baby boys fell by 36%, from 1 in 10,300 to 1 in 16,100.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Herman's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Herman.
Decade by decade
Babies named Herman in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 104 | 13,754 | – |
| 1930s | 140 | 20,319 | #101 |
| 1940s | 101 | 16,856 | #146 |
| 1950s | 87 | 13,832 | #194 |
| 1960s | 72 | 8,360 | #262 |
| 1970s | 40 | 4,761 | #360 |
| 1980s | 6 | 3,124 | #495 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,957 | #812 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,103 | #1,377 |
| 2010s | 0 | 750 | #1,708 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 321 | #2,368 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.8% of babies named Herman from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Herman is most popular
The index compares Herman's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Herman.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 3.16× | 4,681 |
| Mississippi | 2.93× | 2,930 |
| Arkansas | 2.63× | 2,234 |
| Alabama | 2.46× | 3,604 |
| South Carolina | 2.39× | 2,764 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Herman and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Herman (this page) | 85,137 | 1893 |
| Hermon | 2,579 | 1905 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Herman's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Herman.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Herman (1893).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data