Heber
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "comrade" or "friend".
Name Census estimates that about 1,974 living Americans carry the first name Heber. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Heber today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heber births was 2005 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heber. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,634 Americans
Peak year
2005
81 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,472
Tracked since 1881
Census
Heber in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,138 people with the first name Heber, which placed it at #5,466 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
#5,466
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heber
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heber is Hispanic at 73.2%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Heber 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 Heber at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino73.2% · 2,296
- White24.0% · 752
- Black or African American1.6% · 50
- Two or more races0.7% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Popularity
Heber: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heber from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 585 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heber 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 Heber during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hebers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Utah, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Heber, while West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heber
The name Heber is derived from the Hebrew name Eber, which means "the other side" or "across." It is believed to have originated from the biblical figure Eber, who was a descendant of Noah and is mentioned in the Book of Genesis.
The name Heber is found in several ancient texts and religious scriptures. In the Bible, Eber is described as the ancestor of the Hebrew people, and the name "Hebrew" is thought to be derived from his name. Additionally, the Book of Mormon mentions a person named Eber who was a leader among the Jaredites, an ancient people who journeyed to the Americas.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Heber can be found in ancient Assyrian texts from around the 8th century BCE. These texts mention a place called Habiru, which is believed to be related to the name Heber.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Heber. One of the earliest was Heber the Kenite, who was mentioned in the Book of Judges as an ally of the Israelites during their conquest of Canaan around the 13th century BCE.
In the Middle Ages, Heber was the name of a Welsh prince who lived in the 7th century CE. He is considered a saint in the Welsh tradition and is remembered for his efforts in spreading Christianity throughout Wales.
Another notable Heber was Heber C. Kimball (1801-1868), who was a leader in the Latter-day Saint movement and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the settlement of the Salt Lake Valley.
In the world of literature, Heber Doust Curtis (1860-1942) was a Canadian poet and author who is best known for his poetry collections, including "The Clerk's Fancy" and "The Voice of the Garden."
Lastly, Heber Jentzsch (1935-2012) was a prominent member of the Church of Scientology and served as the president of the Church of Scientology International from 1982 until his death.
People
Heber + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heber 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
Heber: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heber?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,974 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heber 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 173,634 US residents.
Is Heber a common name?
We classify Heber as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heber most popular?
The single biggest year for Heber was 2005, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heber is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Heber in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,138 people with the name Heber, or 1.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,466 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 Heber 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 Heber?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Heber leans strongly male. 3,084 people counted with this name were male (98.4%), compared with 50 female bearers (1.6%). 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 Heber?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heber is Hispanic at 73.2%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Heber most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Heber in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (2,296 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 Heber in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heber a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heber in the SSA data are male. 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 Heber still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heber 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 Heber 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 Heber?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.