Fun Facts About the Name Hays
- 745 babies named Hays: U.S. records list 745 babies given the name Hays from 1880 through 2025. Even 5 girls received the name Hays - about 1 girl for every 148 boys.
What Does the Name Hays Mean?
Hays is an English surname used as a given name, most often a variant of Hayes or Hay. Its usual meaning is "enclosure" or "hedge," from the Old English word hæg (also recorded as haga), which referred to a fenced or hedged piece of land. The surname arose from place names such as Hayes in Kent and Middlesex, or from a person who lived by such an enclosure. A second, Scottish line of the name comes through Hay, from the Norman French de la Haye and Old French haye, also meaning "hedge" or "enclosure." The two derivations are similar in sense but belong to different linguistic routes: the English route is Old English, while the Scottish route is Norman French. The literal sense is topographical; it described a landscape feature, not a personal quality. The Irish surname Hayes can derive from Ó hAodha, but that origin is not the usual source of the spelling Hays.
Hays Name History & Origins
In medieval England, hæg and its Middle English descendant hay(e) were common in place names and bynames. People who lived at or near an enclosure might be recorded as atte Haye or de Hayes, and over time these descriptions became hereditary surnames. The spelling Hays is one of several later variants, alongside Hayes and Hay. In Scotland, the surname Hay developed separately from the Norman family de la Haye; William de Haya held lands in Perthshire and served as royal butler in the twelfth century, and the Hay chiefs later became Earls of Erroll. Hays can therefore represent either the English topographic surname or a Scottish variant of Hay. As a first name, Hays is a transferred surname rather than an inherited medieval given name.
How Popular is the Name Hays?
Hays recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2024. Its best rank was #974 in 1880.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #16,055 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #5,469 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2024 | #4,225 | 25 | 0.0015% |
| 2023 | #5,750 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2022 | #4,765 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 2021 | #4,416 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2020 | #4,916 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2019 | #5,415 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2018 | #5,169 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2017 | #4,808 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #5,394 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #5,596 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2014 | #4,176 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 2013 | #8,355 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #8,407 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #5,774 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2010 | #9,097 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #7,906 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #10,266 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #7,798 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #6,229 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 2005 | #7,874 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #6,701 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2003 | #10,037 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #8,795 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #7,040 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1999 | #10,510 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #6,501 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #8,173 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #7,335 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,712 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #4,464 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1982 | #6,726 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1972 | #5,273 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1971 | #4,133 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #5,014 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1968 | #4,370 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #4,240 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1957 | #3,374 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1956 | #3,701 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1950 | #3,475 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1948 | #3,132 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1947 | #3,964 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1946 | #2,470 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1944 | #3,627 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1942 | #3,362 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1941 | #3,731 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1940 | #2,984 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1938 | #3,319 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #3,308 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1933 | #2,282 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1932 | #3,546 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1931 | #2,955 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1930 | #3,771 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1929 | #3,098 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1928 | #3,903 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1927 | #3,009 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1926 | #3,007 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1925 | #3,016 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1924 | #3,645 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #2,686 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1922 | #2,697 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1921 | #1,674 | 22 | 0.0020% |
| 1920 | #2,385 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1919 | #3,230 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1918 | #2,610 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1917 | #3,370 | 7 | 0.0008% |
| 1916 | #1,437 | 24 | 0.0027% |
| 1915 | #2,109 | 13 | 0.0015% |
| 1914 | #2,030 | 11 | 0.0017% |
| 1913 | #2,003 | 9 | 0.0018% |
| 1905 | #1,316 | 5 | 0.0038% |
| 1904 | #1,013 | 7 | 0.0055% |
| 1880 | #974 | 5 | 0.0045% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Hays Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You attract success and money. You are a lover of nature and do not need others for your happiness. You are self sufficient. You strive for material success and power and have business sense. You possess strong organizational abilities, can be a good manager, and executive by nature. You are capable of great achievement in business and finance. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Hays's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hays's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.