Haleh
Persian feminine name meaning "aura" or "halo of light".
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Haleh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Haleh today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haleh births was 1982 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haleh. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Haleh. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1982
8 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1982 SSA rank
#7,712
Tracked since 1970
Census
Haleh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 574 people with the first name Haleh, which placed it at #18,700 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
#18,700
National first-name rank
People counted
574
574 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haleh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haleh is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Haleh 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 Haleh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 505
- Two or more races9.2% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 6
- Black or African American0.7% · 4
Popularity
Haleh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haleh from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 17 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Haleh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haleh 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 Haleh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Haleh
The name Haleh originated in ancient Persia, now modern-day Iran, and is derived from the Persian word "hal" meaning "halo" or "aura". It has been a popular name in the region for centuries, with its earliest known use dating back to the 6th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Haleh can be found in the Shahnameh, the epic Persian poem written by Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In this literary masterpiece, Haleh is mentioned as the beautiful and virtuous wife of the legendary hero Rostam.
Over the centuries, the name Haleh has been borne by several notable figures in Persian history and literature. One such individual was Haleh Esfahani, a renowned 12th-century poet and scholar from Isfahan, who was renowned for her works in both Persian and Arabic.
Another famous bearer of the name was Haleh Ghorbanali (1901-1991), an Iranian actress and pioneer of the country's theater scene. She is credited with introducing modern theatrical techniques to Iran and was instrumental in the development of Iranian cinema.
In more recent times, Haleh Afshar (born 1944) is a distinguished Iranian-British academic and feminist activist, known for her work on women's rights and Muslim feminism. She has held prominent positions at universities in both Iran and the United Kingdom.
Haleh Badri (born 1976) is a contemporary Iranian artist and sculptor, whose works have been exhibited in numerous international exhibitions and museums. She is particularly known for her sculptures that explore themes of identity, gender, and social issues in Iran.
The name Haleh continues to be a popular choice among Persian families, both in Iran and throughout the Iranian diaspora worldwide. Its enduring appeal lies in its beautiful meaning and rich cultural heritage, reminding those who bear it of their connection to the ancient traditions of one of the world's oldest civilizations.
People
Haleh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haleh 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
Haleh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haleh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haleh 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Haleh a common name?
We classify Haleh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haleh most popular?
The single biggest year for Haleh was 1982, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haleh is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haleh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 574 people with the name Haleh, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,700 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 Haleh 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 Haleh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haleh appears almost entirely female. Of the 577 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Haleh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haleh is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Haleh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Haleh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (505 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 Haleh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haleh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haleh 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 Haleh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haleh 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 Haleh 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 have Haleh as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.