Hather
An uncommon feminine name of Old English origin meaning "the heather flower".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Hather. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hather today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hather births was 1979 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hather. 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 Hather. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1979
6 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1982 SSA rank
#11,080
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Hather: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hather 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 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hather 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 Hather 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 Hather
The given name Hather has its origins in the Old English language, emerging during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English word "hæðer," which means "heather" or "a place where heather grows." This connection suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a heathland or an area abundant with heather plants.
Hather is a relatively uncommon name, and its earliest recorded appearances are found in various medieval documents and records from England. One of the earliest known individuals bearing this name was Hather of Oxfordshire, a landowner mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.
Throughout history, the name Hather has been associated with several notable individuals. One such person was Hather de Burgh (c. 1230 - c. 1292), a prominent English noblewoman and the daughter of Hubert de Burgh, the Earl of Kent and a powerful figure during the reign of King John and Henry III. Another individual was Hather Merrick (1556 - 1638), an English Protestant martyr who was executed during the reign of Queen Mary I for her religious beliefs.
In the realm of literature, the name Hather appears in the works of William Shakespeare. In his play "The Merry Wives of Windsor," there is a character named Hather Quickly, a servant and messenger. While this character's name is sometimes spelled differently, such as "Mistress Quickly," the name Hather is believed to be one of the variations used by Shakespeare.
Another notable figure bearing the name Hather was Hather Wyatt (1624 - 1692), an English-American colonial leader and landowner in Virginia. She was the daughter of Sir Francis Wyatt, the first English colonial governor of Virginia, and played a significant role in the early settlement and development of the colony.
While the name Hather has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals across various walks of life, including nobility, religious figures, literary characters, and colonial settlers. Despite its rarity, the name's enduring presence serves as a testament to its deep-rooted origins in the Old English language and its connection to the natural world.
People
Hather + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hather 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
Hather: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hather?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hather 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Hather a common name?
We classify Hather as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hather most popular?
The single biggest year for Hather was 1979, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hather is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hather in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hather a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hather 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 Hather still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hather 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 Hather 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Hather?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.