Hugues

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 17 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Hugues is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name9.0K records spelled Hugues152 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Australia

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written Hugh, Hugo, Hughes, ฮัว, Huey

65 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Hugues is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, a male given name, equivalent to English Hugh

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Altération du nom irlandais Hughes, anglicisation de Ó h-Aodha, dérivé de aodh « feu ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Canada français. Anthroponymie et généalogie. 2e édition

• In French, Du germanique hug- « esprit, intelligence »; fêté le 1er avril (saint Hugues).

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Origine germanique; lié à l’idée d’« intelligence ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, D'origine germanique, signifie « intelligence ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

MQ INSEE — Fichier des prénoms (births by department), dpt 972 (Martinique) — 78 years between 1900–1989. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Hugues Capetb. 940FRKing of the Franks
• Hugues de Paynsb. 1074ITGrand Master of the Knights Templar
• Hugh of Saint Omerb. 1100FRnot in their usual nameFlemish noble
• Hugh VIII of Lusignanb. 1106not in their usual nameFrench noble
• Hugh III, Duke of Burgundyb. 1148ILnot in their usual nameDuke of Burgundy from 1162 to 1192
• Hugues Aufrayb. 1929FRFrench singer
• Hugues Questerb. 1948FRFrench actor
• Jean-Hugues Angladeb. 1955FRFrench actor
• HughFRnot in their usual nameabbot of Saint-Quentin, son of Charlemagne
• Hugh of RouenFRnot in their usual nameFrench abbot, bishop and saint (690–730)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 359 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Hugues?

We estimate roughly 26 thousand people bear Hugues (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Hugues have the most bearers?

We estimate about 26 thousand people bear Hugues in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled hugues.

How common is Hugues compared with other names?

In France, Hugues is the 468th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Hugues a male or female name?

Hugues is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Hugues mean?

Recorded meaning: From Germanic hug, 'mind, spirit'; St Hugues.