UK boy's name
Huw
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.
Huw is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Huw popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1675, with 15 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1997, with 88 births.
This profile covers 1,334 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. 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 17% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 1,331 living people in the UK are called Huw. 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
- • Huw ranked #1675 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 15 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 1997, when 88 boys were registered as Huw.
- • Huw ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #728 in 2023.
- • About 1,331 living people in the UK are estimated to have Huw as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1675
2024
Births in 2024
15
Latest year
Peak year
1997
88 births
Estimated living
1,331
2026
Popularity
Huw over time
The chart below shows babies named Huw 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 Huw, the clearest high point is 1997. The latest England and Wales figure is 15 births in 2024, compared with 88 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Huw by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Huw 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 | #1228 | 118 | 5 |
| 2010s | #804 | 394 | 10 |
| 2000s | #517 | 529 | 10 |
| 1990s | #333 | 293 | 4 |
Geography
Where Huw is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Huw. 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.
Huw ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #728 in 2023.
Across the UK
Huw in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#728 in 2023
2 years of NRS records, 8 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Huw
-
Huw Nightingale
snowboarder
British snowboarder
2001-
-
Huw Waters
cricketer
Welsh cricketer (born 1986)
1986-
-
Huw Lewis-Jones
naturalist; historian; curator; art historian; radio editor; university teacher
British historian, editor, broadcaster and art critic
1980-
-
Huw Watkins
composer; pianist; musician
British composer and pianist
1976-
-
Huw Pritchard
sport cyclist
Welsh racing cyclist
1976-
-
Huw Merriman
politician
British politician (born 1973)
1973-
-
Huw van Steenis
banker
British banker
1969-
-
Huw Lewis
politician; blogger
British politician (born 1964)
1964-
Related
Names similar to Huw
- 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
Huw: questions and answers
How popular is the name Huw in the UK right now?
In 2024, Huw was ranked #1675 for boys in England and Wales, with 15 births registered.
When was Huw most popular?
The peak year on record was 1997, with 88 babies registered as Huw in England and Wales.
How many people are called Huw in the UK?
A total of 1,334 babies have been registered as Huw across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 8 more in Scotland.
Where is Huw most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Huw ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #728 in 2023. 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.