Fun Facts About the Name Hazard
- 11 babies named Hazard: U.S. records list 11 babies given the name Hazard from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Hazard Mean?
Hazard is an English name taken from the ordinary English word for chance, risk, or danger. That word came into Middle English from Old French hasard, which first named a game of dice and later came to mean luck, chance, or peril in general. Old French drew the term from Spanish azar, and the most common explanation carries it back to Arabic az-zahr, "the die."
The Arabic derivation is widely repeated but not settled. Some etymologists have proposed a different Arabic word as the source, and a few have doubted an Arabic origin altogether; no rival explanation has won general acceptance. What is not in doubt is the path into English: a dice game first, then chance, then risk or danger. As an English surname, Hazard is usually explained as a nickname - for a person who gambled at dice, or for someone thought reckless or lucky - and the given name is generally taken from that surname rather than from the everyday word.
Hazard Name History & Origins
The word behind the name is recorded in Old French by the twelfth century as the name of a dice game, and it appears in English by the thirteenth century with that sense before widening to mean chance and then risk or danger. Surnames formed from such everyday words were common in medieval England, and Hazard is an old English family name. One line, the Hazard family of Rhode Island, descends from Thomas Hazard, an early New England settler who signed the Portsmouth Compact in 1638.
Hazard is uncommon as a first name in English. Where it is used, it follows the pattern of surnames adopted as given names, and it has also served as a middle name: the American naval officer Oliver Hazard Perry (1785 - 1819), commander at the Battle of Lake Erie, carried Hazard from his mother's Rhode Island family. The Kentucky town of Hazard takes its name from him.
How Popular is the Name Hazard?
Hazard has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2019. Its best rank was #11,269 in 2019.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | #11,269 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #12,970 | 5 | 0.0003% |
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.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with H
How the Name Hazard 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.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Hazard's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hazard's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.