How Many People Are Named Hector?
An estimated 97,707 people in the United States have the first name Hector. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 35 years old, and Hector peaked in popularity in 2005 with 2,458 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Hector as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Hector paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Hector is overwhelmingly male, 481 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
97,707
About 1 in 3,508 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
35
years old
Peak Year
2005
2,458 births
Total Registered
108,418
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Hector
Hector is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 108,418 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Hector as a male name
Ranked #380 in 2024
858 male births in 2024
Peak: 2005 (2,458 births)
Hector as a female name
Ranked #14,383 in 2008
7 female births in 2008
Peak: 1980 (21 births)
Hector: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Hector span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 20,897 babies were registered. Hector has declined significantly from its peak in the 2000s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Hector by Decade
How has Hector tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 95 | 95 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 103 | 103 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 125 | 125 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 694 | 694 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 1,482 | 1,482 | 0 | |
| 1930s | 1,798 | 1,793 | 5 | |
| 1940s | 2,825 | 2,825 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 7,123 | 7,101 | 22 | |
| 1960s | 9,665 | 9,605 | 60 | |
| 1970s | 12,252 | 12,129 | 123 | |
| 1980s | 15,256 | 15,107 | 149 | |
| 1990s | 19,596 | 19,491 | 105 | |
| 2000s | 20,897 | 20,880 | 17 | |
| 2010s | 12,136 | 12,136 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 4,371 | 4,371 | 0 | |
Hector by State
Birth registrations for Hector span all 43 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Maine, Delaware, Mississippi. On average, about 2,424 Hectors were registered per state.
Hector + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Hector as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Hector
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
Hector: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hector?
We estimate approximately 97,707 people named Hector are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 3,508 Americans share this first name.
Is Hector a common name?
Hector is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 108,418 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Hector most popular?
Hector reached peak popularity in 2005, when 2,458 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Hector is approximately 35 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Hector a male name?
Hector is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Hector Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Hector Smith, Hector Johnson, Hector Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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