Name Awesome

Hero

#2,195 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Hero has been given to 1,025 babies in the U.S. since 2004. In 2025 it ranked #2,195 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 70 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 79% boys, 21% girls all-time.

Babies named Hero, 2025

1 in 51,000

Hero over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Hero over time

In 2025, Hero went to 7% girls and 93% boys.

20002025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Hero: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Ancient Greek

What Hero means

Hero has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Hero

One of the source’s documented entries for Hero records a meaning of hero.

A separate documented entry treats Hero as a form of Heron. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Hero is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Hero comes through Ancient Greek Ἡρώ.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Hero is pronounced /ˈhɪɹ.oʊ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 806 boys were recorded with the name Hero between 2004 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 70 in 2021; its best national rank was #2,084 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,329 in 2020 to #2,195 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,284 in 2015 to #2,195 in 2025.

In the United States, 219 girls were recorded with the name Hero between 2000 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 22 in 2016; its best national rank was #5,863 in 2016.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #9,164 in 2020 to #15,764 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #9,156 in 2015 to #15,764 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Hero?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 51,000
65 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 26,300
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,195
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
35,353 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Hero sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 35,353 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Hero. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Heros were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Hero was born before 2019 — so the typical Hero is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
48.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
806
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 48.5% of all recorded uses (391).

Is Hero rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+100
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+134
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+89
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.12×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
92.9%
Peak was 2021 (70)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
43.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,084
2021

Spellings of Hero

Hero is not the most common spelling — Henry is, with 49.6% against Hero's 0.05%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Hero is used

Across 1910–2025, Hero was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 247,675 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Georgia1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in —
  4. 4Minnesota1 in —
  5. 5Ohio1 in —
  6. 6Tennessee1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —
  8. 8Wisconsin1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Hero has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Hero around the world

Where Hero ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2008–2025
    #5,137
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2014–2017
    #2,569
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1997–1997
    #543
    in 1997

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Hero by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,195
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 134
Best rank ever
#2,084
2021
Peak year
2021
70 that year
First recorded
2004
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
806
Count in 2025
65

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,764
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 6,600
Best rank ever
#5,863
2016
Peak year
2016
22 that year
First recorded
2000
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
219
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Hero

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

HershHeronHeruAeroHermesNeroHershyHersonPieroEeroHerbHerbyHerveHeriHeraldHeroldHerbieHerveyDineroSeveroCiceroHernanHerculesHerny

Sibling names for Hero

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Hero

Top names of 2021, Hero's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2021Boys' names starting with HShakespeare Names