Hector

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Hector: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Hector: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #246, reached in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
38times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#246highest recorded position
10groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#573
1997	#493
1998	#424
1999	#471
2000	#515
2001	#421
2002	#411
2003	#479
2004	#454
2005	#471
2006	#411
2007	#517
2008	#453
2009	#362
2010	#386
2011	#321
2012	#307
2013	#291
2014	#276
2015	#299
2016	#255
2017	#282
2018	#259
2019	#264
2020	#269
2021	#257
2022	#301
2023	#295
2024	#308

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #246 among boys in Scotland, #308 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #573 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #308 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Hector appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 3,250 births with the name.

Hector across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Hector's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#573 (1996)	#255 (2016)	#308 (2024)	29 of 29	3,250 (1996–2024)	206 (2016)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#532 (2009)	#495 (2017)	#584 (2023)	8 of 15	33 (2009–2023)	6 (2017)

Hector by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Hector in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	161	4 of 10	40
2000s	642	10 of 10	64
2010sbusiest	1,640	10 of 10	164
2020s	807	5 of 10	161

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 164 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2015 and 2016, when recorded births rose by 51, from 155 to 206.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Hector appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #246 in Scotland in 2024.

Hector's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#308	145	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#295	152	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#301	150	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#257	185	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#269	175	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#264	185	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#259	197	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#282	183	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#255	206	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#299	155	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#276	171	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#291	153	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#307	149	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#321	138	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#386	103	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#362	107	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#453	79	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#517	62	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#411	81	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#471	60	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#454	59	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#479	50	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#411	55	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#421	51	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#515	38	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#471	44	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#424	50	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#493	38	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#573	29	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	male	#584	5	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	male	#631	4	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	male	#749	3	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	male	#495	6	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#711	3	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#730	3	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#611	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#532	5	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#246	16	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #246, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 206 births, registered in England and Wales in 2016.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2009, and 28 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Heba · #885, 30y
Hebe · #782, 29y
Hedd · #2097, 14y
Hedda · #7, 59y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Mack · #246, 29y
Adelina · #247, 34y
Maisey · #247, 29y
Maizie · #247, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Barney · #246, 29y
Caoilinn · #246, 30y
Jac · #246, 29y
Mack · #246, 29y

Hector was ranked #246 in Scotland · Boys in 2024. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Hector and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Hector without appearing here.

Hector moved ahead of

Garry Compare
In 1996 they stood at #573 and #573 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1997 that had become #493 and #914.
Jon Compare
In 2007 they stood at #517 and #492 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2008 that had become #453 and #789.
Derek Compare
In 1996 they stood at #573 and #464 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1997 that had become #493 and #809.
Ashleigh Compare
In 1997 they stood at #493 and #471 in England and Wales · Boys; by 1998 that had become #424 and #669.

Moved ahead of Hector

Jackson Compare
In 2009 they stood at #532 and #701 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2010 that had become #611 and #322.
Lachlan Compare
In 2010 they stood at #611 and #720 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2011 that had become #730 and #540.
Albie Compare
In 2006 they stood at #411 and #421 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #517 and #400.
Cillian Compare
In 2021 they stood at #257 and #274 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2022 that had become #301 and #223.

Moved the opposite way to Hector

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 while Aaron went from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 while Adam went from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 while Alan went from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 while Alex went from #43 to #171.

Moved the same way as Hector

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 and Albie from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 and Alfie from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 and Alfred from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Hector went from #573 to #308 and Archie from #192 to #10.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #246 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Hector

Hector at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Hector across 2 official records

Hector by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Hector appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Hector

Hector and the names beside it

Hector moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Hector

Moved the opposite way to Hector

Moved the same way as Hector

Hector at a glance

Hector across 2 official records

Hector by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Hector appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Hector

Hector and the names beside it

Hector moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Hector

Moved the opposite way to Hector

Moved the same way as Hector