Given name
Hedda
“suffering strife during war”
In Scandinavian use, Hedda is an affectionate form of Hedwig. One German interpretation is “suffering strife during war.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In Scandinavian use, Hedda is an affectionate form of Hedwig. One German interpretation is “suffering strife during war.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In Scandinavian use, Hedda is an affectionate form of Hedwig. An origin associated with Hedwig is Germanic.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Scandinavian use, Hedda is used as an affectionate form of Hedvig.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1900. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Hedda through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 222
- 0 boys · 222 girls
- Most popular year
- 1943
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 2007. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 13 in 1943. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 376 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Hedda’s family of names
Hedda is an affectionate form of Hedwig. Hedda shares a linguistic root with Edda. Hedda has a related form in Hedwig.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Hedda has relatives in 3 languages.
2 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Hedda
- Hedda HopperAmerican gossip columnist and actress (1885–1966)
- Hedda BerntsenNorwegian freestyle skierborn 1976
- Hedda ZinnerGerman political writer, translator, actress, and journalist (1904–1994)
- Hedda AnderssonSwedish physician (1861-1950)
- Hedda SterneRomanian-American artist (1910–2012)
- Hedda StiernstedtSwedish actressborn 1987
- Hedda VernonGerman actress (1889–1961)
- Elisabeth EkmanSwedish botanist (1862–1936)
- Hedda EulenbergGerman translator and writer (1876-1960)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Hedda, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Ingrid
“having the beauty of the god Ing”
>99% girls
Amma
“born on a Saturday”
>99% girls
Torbe(r)n
—
Pirkko
Pirkko is a feminine given name. It is used in Finnish.
>99% girls
Abelone
“a gift from the god Apollo” · “woman who is manly”
>99% girls
Valeska
“a glorious ruler”
>99% girls
Gro
“one who works the earth”
1% boys · 99% girls
Jytte
“jewess” · “woman from Judea”
1% boys · 99% girls
Sibling ideas
Names that share Hedda’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.
A sister for Hedda