Given name & surname
Heather
“resembling the evergreen flowering plant”
Heather is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “resembling the evergreen flowering plant.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “resembling the evergreen flowering plant.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Heather was in use during the late 19th century.
Heather through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 527,387
- 1,477 boys · 525,910 girls
- Most popular year
- 1975
- 24,366 babies
- 2025
- 177
- #1,264 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −15%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 177 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,264 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 14.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 24,301 in 1975. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (23). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 473,464 as a first name in 2020; 1,041 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Heather’s family of names
In English usage, Heather has a conventional equivalent in the German form Erika. Heather has a related form in Heath. In English usage, Heather has a conventional equivalent in the German form Heide.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Heather
- Heather GrahamAmerican actressborn 1970
- Heather LocklearAmerican actress (born 1961)
- Heather MorrisAmerican actress, dancer, singer, and modelborn 1987
- Heather O'RourkeAmerican actress (1975–1988)
- Heather WatsonBritish female tennis playerborn 1992
- Heather LangenkampAmerican actressborn 1964
- Heather Millsformer glamour model, activistborn 1968
- Heather MatarazzoAmerican actressborn 1982
- Heather O'ReillyAmerican soccer playerborn 1985
Characters named Heather: Heather Mason (Silent Hill 3).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Heather, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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