# Hamlet (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/hamlet/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “fool”, “to annoy” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhæm.lət/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Hamblet, Hamblett, Hamlett |
| US babies named this | 253 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 253 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

From Latin Amlethus, as written by 13th-century Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus, and borrowed into English by way of François de Belleforest's French Hamlet, originally rendered as Hamblet in English. Ultimately from Old Danish Amlethæ, corresponding to Old Norse Amlóði (“fool”), claimed to be suggestive of the way that Hamlet acts in the play, from ama (“to annoy”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 9 | 7,759 |
| 2005 | 7 | 9,472 |
| 2006 | 7 | 9,939 |
| 2007 | 6 | 11,423 |
| 2008 | 10 | 7,891 |
| 2010 | 9 | 8,364 |
| 2011 | 10 | 7,695 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,923 |
| 2014 | 8 | 9,069 |
| 2015 | 6 | 11,177 |
| 2017 | 7 | 10,077 |
| 2018 | 5 | 12,845 |
| 2019 | 11 | 7,333 |
| 2024 | 5 | 12,969 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9,204 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: هَامْلِت
- Armenian: Համլետ
- Bulgarian: Ха́млет
- Chinese: 哈姆雷特, 哈姆萊特 /哈姆莱特
- Czech: Hamlet
- Danish: Hamlet
- Dutch: Hamlet
- Esperanto: Hamleto
- Finnish: Hamlet
- French: Hamlet
- Georgian: ჰამლეტი
- German: Hamlet
- Greek: Άμλετ, Αμλέτος
- Hebrew: המלט
- Hindi: हम्लेट
- Hungarian: Hamlet
- Icelandic: Hamlet
- Italian: Amleto
- Japanese: ハムレット
- Korean: 햄릿

## People named Hamlet

- Hamlet Isakhanli, Azerbaijani mathematician
- Hamlet Barrientos, footballer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.