# Houston (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/houston/  
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 | English |
| Meaning | “hugh's town” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhjustən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Hoston, Houstoun, Hughesdon |
| US babies named this | 18,540 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 18,104 / 436 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 8, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Originally from a place near Glasgow, from the Middle English equivalent of "Hugh's town". Analyzable as Hugh + -s- + -ton

## 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, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 5 | 18,014 |
| 2012 | 6 | 15,693 |
| 2013 | 8 | 12,425 |
| 2014 | 16 | 7,437 |
| 2015 | 14 | 8,162 |
| 2016 | 10 | 10,381 |
| 2017 | 11 | 9,561 |
| 2018 | 15 | 7,526 |
| 2019 | 17 | 6,834 |
| 2020 | 19 | 6,166 |
| 2021 | 29 | 4,665 |
| 2022 | 20 | 6,065 |
| 2023 | 15 | 7,399 |
| 2024 | 14 | 7,740 |
| 2025 | 11 | 9,092 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 210 | 945 |
| 2012 | 217 | 939 |
| 2013 | 206 | 972 |
| 2014 | 227 | 933 |
| 2015 | 264 | 852 |
| 2016 | 287 | 804 |
| 2017 | 284 | 805 |
| 2018 | 314 | 753 |
| 2019 | 374 | 686 |
| 2020 | 336 | 731 |
| 2021 | 440 | 625 |
| 2022 | 380 | 696 |
| 2023 | 387 | 689 |
| 2024 | 381 | 706 |
| 2025 | 402 | 675 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 | 3,996 |
| 2024 | 4 | 4,270 |

## People named Houston

- Houston Stewart Chamberlain, British-German racialist philosopher (1855–1927)
- Houston Person, American jazz saxophonist (born 1934)
- Houston, American R&B singer
- John Brunner, British author (1934–1995)
- Jerami Grant, American basketball player (born 1994)
- Jimmie Davis, American singer, songwriter and 47th Governor of Louisiana (1899–2000)
- Bobo Brazil, American professional wrestler (1924-1998)

## 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.