Heather Williams
There are approximately 2,536 people named Heather Williams living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 135,155 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Heather with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Williams. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
2,536
1 in 135,155
Named Heather
485K
Alive today
Named Williams
1.8M
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 485K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1975
Average age: 45
Top Census group: White (90.2%)
Estimated bearers: 1.8M
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #3
Per 100K: 522.38
Top ancestry: Black (46.2%)
First name trend
Heather: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Heather. The peak year was 1975 with 24,367 births. The average person named Heather today is 45 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heather
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Heather, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 90.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Heather described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Heather at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White90.2% · 427,018
- Two or more races3.5% · 16,430
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 15,214
- Black or African American1.7% · 7,954
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3,741
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3,109
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Williams surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Williams, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Black at 46.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Williams described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Williams at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Black or African American46.2% · 721,683
- White43.8% · 684,271
- Two or more races5.1% · 79,393
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 54,634
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 12,205
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 9,209
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Heather has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1416% of the US population, based on 485,383 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Heather right now.
The surname Williams appears at a rate of 522.38 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.5224%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 2,536 people with the full name Heather Williams. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Heather
Related
Other people with the surname Williams
FAQ
Heather Williams: questions and answers
How many people are named Heather Williams?
We estimate approximately 2,536 people in the United States share the full name Heather Williams. That works out to about 1 in 135,155 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1416%) with the surname frequency (522.38 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Heather Williams?
We classify Heather Williams as "Rare". About 1 in 135,155 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Heather a male or female name?
Heather is predominantly female. Out of 527,210 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Heather profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many Americans are named Heather Williams?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.