UK boy's name
Hew
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2017. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Hew is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Hew popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2017 in this profile. In that release it ranked #4812, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2004, with 4 births.
This profile covers 11 England and Wales registrations across 3 recorded years from 2004 to 2017. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, 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 75% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 14 living people in the UK are called Hew. 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 2018 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Hew ranked #4812 for boys in England and Wales in 2017, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2004, when 4 boys were registered as Hew.
- • Hew ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #306 in 1981.
- • About 14 living people in the UK are estimated to have Hew as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#4812
2017
Births in 2017
3
Latest year
Peak year
2004
4 births
Estimated living
14
2026
Popularity
Hew over time
The chart below shows babies named Hew registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 2004 to 2017. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Hew, the clearest high point is 2004. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2017, compared with 4 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hew by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Hew 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | #4812 | 3 | 1 |
| 2000s | #3109 | 8 | 2 |
Geography
Where Hew is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Hew. 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.
Hew ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #306 in 1981.
Across the UK
Hew in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#306 in 1981
1 years of NRS records, 3 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hew
-
Hew Dalrymple
(born 1993)
1993-
-
Hew Raymond Griffiths
Australian criminal
1962-
-
Hew Locke
sculptor; painter; visual artist
Sculptor and contemporary visual artist of Guyanese and British parentage (born 1959)
1959-1959
-
Hew Strachan
historian; military historian; university teacher; historian of Modern Age; non-fiction writer
British historian
1949-
-
Hew Pike
military personnel
British Army general
1943-
-
Hew Fraser
field hockey player
Scottish field hockey player (1877-1938)
1877-1938
-
Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe
military personnel
British general 1860-1957
1860-1957
-
Hew Hamilton Dalrymple
politician
British politician (1857–1945)
1857-1945
Related
Names similar to Hew
- 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
Hew: questions and answers
How popular is the name Hew in the UK right now?
In 2017, Hew was ranked #4812 for boys in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Hew most popular?
The peak year on record was 2004, with 4 babies registered as Hew in England and Wales.
How many people are called Hew in the UK?
A total of 11 babies have been registered as Hew across the 3 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 3 more in Scotland.
Where is Hew most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Hew ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #306 in 1981. 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.