How Many People Are Named Horace?
An estimated 17,018 people in the United States have the first name Horace. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 67 years old, and Horace peaked in popularity in 1921 with 1,313 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Horace 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 Horace paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Horace is overwhelmingly male, 202 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 67, Horace is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1969.
- Horace has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
17,018
About 1 in 20,141 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
67
years old
Peak Year
1921
1,313 births
Total Registered
54,343
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Horace
Horace is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 54,343 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Horace as a male name
Ranked #5,287 in 2024
18 male births in 2024
Peak: 1921 (1,313 births)
Horace as a female name
Ranked #6,940 in 1962
5 female births in 1962
Peak: 1949 (13 births)
Horace: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Horace span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 11,841 babies were registered. Horace has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Horace by Decade
How has Horace 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 | 1,650 | 1,650 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 1,814 | 1,814 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 2,125 | 2,125 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 8,512 | 8,489 | 23 | |
| 1920s | 11,841 | 11,777 | 64 | |
| 1930s | 8,172 | 8,126 | 46 | |
| 1940s | 6,902 | 6,876 | 26 | |
| 1950s | 5,746 | 5,719 | 27 | |
| 1960s | 3,155 | 3,139 | 16 | |
| 1970s | 1,816 | 1,816 | 0 | |
| 1980s | 1,118 | 1,118 | 0 | |
| 1990s | 753 | 753 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 384 | 384 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 262 | 262 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 93 | 93 | 0 | |
Horace by State
Birth registrations for Horace span all 46 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Georgia, Texas, North Carolina. The lowest are in South Dakota, Oregon, Montana. On average, about 978 Horaces were registered per state.
Horace + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Horace as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Horace
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
Horace: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Horace?
We estimate approximately 17,018 people named Horace 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 20,141 Americans share this first name.
Is Horace a common name?
Horace is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 54,343 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Horace most popular?
Horace reached peak popularity in 1921, when 1,313 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Horace is approximately 67 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Horace a male name?
Horace is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Horace Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Horace Smith, Horace Johnson, Horace 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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