Heavenly
Of ethereal or spiritual nature, relating to the heavens or sky.
Name Census estimates that about 5,210 living Americans carry the first name Heavenly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heavenly today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heavenly births was 2016 (349 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heavenly. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Heavenly with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Heavenly is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.2K
~ 1 in 65,788 Americans
Peak year
2016
349 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,229
Tracked since 1963
Census
Heavenly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,205 people with the first name Heavenly, which placed it at #5,375 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,375
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heavenly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heavenly is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (23.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Heavenly described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Heavenly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.1% · 1,253
- White25.4% · 815
- Hispanic or Latino23.6% · 755
- Two or more races6.7% · 215
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 103
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 64
Popularity
Heavenly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heavenly from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,254 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Heavenly remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heavenly by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Heavenly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heavenlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Heavenly, while Colorado, West Virginia, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 98 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heavenly
The name Heavenly has its roots in the English language, originating from the word "heaven," which refers to the celestial realm or the abode of God and angels. This name gained popularity during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, particularly among Puritan families in England and later in colonial America.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Heavenly can be found in the 1619 baptismal records of St. Mary's Church in Taunton, Somerset, England, where a girl named Heavenly Browne was baptized. This unusual name choice reflected the Puritan belief in naming children with virtuous or religious names.
In the 17th century, the name Heavenly appeared in several Puritan texts, including sermons and theological writings. For instance, the Puritan minister Thomas Shepard, in his 1642 work "The Sincere Convert," used the term "heavenly" to describe the spiritual state of those who have accepted Christ.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Heavenly was Heavenly Hughes (1681-1753), a Quaker preacher from Pennsylvania. She was known for her fervent religious beliefs and her travels throughout the American colonies to spread the Quaker message.
Another historical figure named Heavenly was Heavenly Broughton (1726-1801), an English actress and playwright who was popular in the 18th century. Despite her unconventional first name, she achieved success on the London stage and wrote several plays.
In the 19th century, Heavenly Hicks (1828-1899) was a prominent American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She was born into slavery in Maryland but later escaped and became a vocal advocate for the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage.
Heavenly Ornette (1864-1941) was a notable figure in the early 20th century as one of the first female African American lawyers in the United States. She practiced law in Washington, D.C., and was known for her work in defending civil rights cases.
Another individual with the name Heavenly was Heavenly Quintanilla (1913-2007), a Mexican-American artist and activist. She used her art to depict the struggles and cultural heritage of the Chicano community, and her works are found in various museums and collections.
While the name Heavenly was more commonly used in the past, particularly among religious or spiritual communities, it remains an uncommon but intriguing choice for parents seeking a unique and meaningful name for their child.
People
Heavenly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heavenly as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Heavenly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heavenly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heavenly going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 65,788 US residents.
Is Heavenly a common name?
We classify Heavenly as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heavenly most popular?
The single biggest year for Heavenly was 2016, when 349 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heavenly is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Heavenly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,205 people with the name Heavenly, or 1.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,375 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Heavenly in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Heavenly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Heavenly appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,213 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Heavenly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heavenly is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (23.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Heavenly most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Heavenly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.1% (1,253 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Heavenly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heavenly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heavenly in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Heavenly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heavenly in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Heavenly can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Heavenly?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.