Hayward is a city in the East Bay area of Alameda County, California. It has a population of 144,186. Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County, It is on the Bay's eastern shore, next to Union City. The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge starts there. Hayward is the 37th biggest city in California by how many people live there. The city was named after William Dutton Hayward, who opened a hotel in the area in 1852.