Heide
A feminine name of Old High German origin meaning "dweller on the heath".
Name Census estimates that about 1,801 living Americans carry the first name Heide. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heide today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heide births was 1968 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heide. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 190,313 Americans
Peak year
1968
84 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,132
Tracked since 1948
Census
Heide in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,563 people with the first name Heide, which placed it at #6,292 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
#6,292
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heide
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heide is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Heide 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 Heide at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.3% · 2,057
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 258
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 156
- Two or more races2.1% · 53
- Black or African American1.2% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Popularity
Heide: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heide from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 721 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heide 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 Heide during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heides live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Heide, while Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heide
The given name Heide has its origins in the German language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Old German word "heida," which means "heathland" or "heath." The name is closely associated with the concept of untamed natural landscapes, particularly heathlands or moors, which were once widespread across parts of northern Europe.
In its earliest forms, the name Heide was likely used to describe individuals who lived in or near these heathland areas. As a personal name, it gained popularity in German-speaking regions during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, when nature-inspired names were commonly bestowed upon children.
Historically, the name Heide has appeared in various literary works and records from the German-speaking world. One notable example is the medieval German epic poem "Heidelohe," which features a character named Heide. This work, dating back to the 13th century, provides an early written reference to the name's usage.
Among the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Heide is Heide von Venningen, a German noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was a prominent figure in the court of the Holy Roman Empire and is mentioned in various historical documents from that era.
Another historical figure with the name Heide is Heide Göttner, a German painter and printmaker born in 1878. She was known for her landscape paintings and etchings, which often depicted the rugged beauty of the German countryside.
In the realm of literature, Heide Ziegler (1909-1989) was a German author and poet who wrote several acclaimed works, including the novel "Die Weiden rauschen" (The Willows Rustle).
Moving into the realm of science, Heide Göttner-Abendroth (1941-2012) was a German scholar and researcher who made significant contributions to the study of matriarchal societies and feminist spirituality.
Finally, Heide Ecker-Rosendahl (born 1947) is a German actress and filmmaker who has appeared in numerous films and television productions throughout her career, showcasing the enduring presence of the name Heide in German culture.
These individuals, spanning various fields and time periods, exemplify the rich history and cultural significance of the name Heide, which remains a testament to the connection between language, nature, and personal identity.
People
Heide + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heide 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
Heide: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heide?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,801 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heide 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 190,313 US residents.
Is Heide a common name?
We classify Heide as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heide most popular?
The single biggest year for Heide was 1968, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heide is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Heide in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,563 people with the name Heide, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,292 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 Heide 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 Heide?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Heide appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,559 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Heide?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heide is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Heide most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Heide in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (2,057 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 Heide in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heide a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heide 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 Heide still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heide 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 Heide 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 Americans are named Heide?
See how many people share the name Heide on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.