UK boy's name
Hamish
Scottish variation of Hamish meaning "supplanter" or "to replace".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Hamish is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Hamish popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #422, with 95 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1998, with 138 births.
This profile covers 2,884 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 69% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 5,367 living people in the UK are called Hamish. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Hamish ranked #422 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 95 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1998, when 138 boys were registered as Hamish.
- • Hamish ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #69 in 2024.
- • About 5,367 living people in the UK are estimated to have Hamish as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#422
2024
Births in 2024
95
Latest year
Peak year
1998
138 births
Estimated living
5,367
2026
Meaning
What does Hamish mean?
The name Hamish originated in Scotland and is the Scottish Gaelic form of the name James. The name James is derived from the name Jacob, which comes from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows".
The earliest known use of the name Hamish dates back to the 16th century in Scotland. It is believed to have originated as a diminutive or pet form of the name James, similar to how Jamie is also a Scottish diminutive of James.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Hamish was Hamish Munro, a Scottish soldier who fought in the Battle of Worcester in 1651 during the English Civil War. Another notable bearer of the name was Hamish MacCunn, a Scottish composer and conductor who lived from 1868 to 1916.
In literature, the name Hamish is famously associated with the character Hamish Macbeth, the protagonist of a series of mystery novels written by M.C. Beaton. The first Hamish Macbeth novel, "Death of a Gossip", was published in 1985.
Other historical figures with the name Hamish include Hamish Henderson (1919-2002), a Scottish poet, songwriter, and advocate for Scottish culture, and Hamish MacInnes (1930-2020), a Scottish mountaineer and writer known for his contributions to mountain rescue techniques.
Hamish is predominantly a Scottish name and is still widely used in Scotland today. It has a strong association with Scottish culture and heritage, reflecting its origins as a distinctly Scottish form of the more widely used name James.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Hamish over time
The chart below shows babies named Hamish registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Hamish, the clearest high point is 1998. The latest England and Wales figure is 95 births in 2024, compared with 138 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hamish by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Hamish was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #432 | 472 | 5 |
| 2010s | #445 | 908 | 10 |
| 2000s | #334 | 966 | 10 |
| 1990s | #229 | 538 | 4 |
Geography
Where Hamish is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Hamish. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Hamish ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #69 in 2024.
Across the UK
Hamish in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#69 in 2024
51 years of NRS records, 2,524 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#395 in 2023
3 years of NISRA records, 10 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hamish
-
Hamish McArthur
rock climber
British sport climber
2001-
-
Hamish Turnbull
sport cyclist; track cyclist
British cyclist
1999-
-
Hamish Steele
writer; comics artist; animation director; cover artist
British animation director, comic-book artist and writer
1991-
-
Hamish Watson
rugby union player
Scottish and Edinburgh rugby union player
1991-
-
Hamish McColl
screenwriter; actor; playwright; comedian; television actor
British actor
1962-
-
Hamish Wallace
scientist
researcher
1956-
-
Hamish Rollo
military personnel; engineer
British engineer (1955–2009)
1955-2009
-
Hamish Stuart
composer; singer; record producer; guitarist; songwriter
Scottish born British guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer
1949-
Related
Names similar to Hamish
- Harry 141,693
- Henry 65,177
- Harrison 45,958
- Harvey 35,648
- Harley 22,095
- Hugo 18,779
- Hayden 12,622
- Hunter 10,350
- Hudson 9,104
- Hamza 8,564
- Hassan 5,982
- Hasan 3,599
FAQ
Hamish: questions and answers
How popular is the name Hamish in the UK right now?
In 2024, Hamish was ranked #422 for boys in England and Wales, with 95 births registered.
When was Hamish most popular?
The peak year on record was 1998, with 138 babies registered as Hamish in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Hamish?
Scottish variation of Hamish meaning "supplanter" or "to replace".
How many people are called Hamish in the UK?
A total of 2,884 babies have been registered as Hamish across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 2,524 more in Scotland and 10 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Hamish most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Hamish ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #69 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.