Ho: meaning “a good man”, origin & popularity

Meaning & origin

What it means

One Chinese interpretation is “a good man.”

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Chinese.

How it developed

From Vietnamese Hồ.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1971. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Ho through the years

Babies since 1880: 129; 129 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year: 1989; 13 babies
2025: 0; Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20: —; Too few births to compare

Ho in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1971–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 1999. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 1989. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,969 as a first name in 2020; 55,533 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Ho’s family of names

In English usage, Ho as a surname has a related form in HOE. In German usage, Ho as a surname has a related form in HEO. In German usage, Ho as a surname has a related form in HUH.

Walk Ho’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Ho has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.

7 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 8

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Across languages 4

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

People named Ho

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Similar names

If you love Ho, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Chinese · Modern

Sibling ideas

Names that share Ho’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Ho

A sister for Ho

Your shortlist

Ho