Heatherlee
A feminine name combining "heather", a flowering evergreen plant, with the suffix "lee".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Heatherlee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heatherlee today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heatherlee births was 1974 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heatherlee. 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 Heatherlee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1974
7 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1993 SSA rank
#14,298
Tracked since 1974
Popularity
Heatherlee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heatherlee from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Heatherlee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heatherlee 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 Heatherlee 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 Heatherlee
Heatherlee is a modern English given name that combines the words "heather" and "lee". The name has its roots in the British Isles, where heather is a common flowering plant found across the moors and highlands.
The word "heather" comes from the Old English "hæddre", which itself derives from the Proto-Germanic "haidriz". This ultimately traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root "kaid-", meaning "to burn or blaze", likely referring to the purple hues of the heather plant.
The suffix "lee" is an Old English word meaning "meadow" or "pasture". It comes from the Proto-Germanic "lauho" and the Proto-Indo-European root "louk-", meaning "to light or illuminate". This may be a reference to the open, sunlit nature of meadows and pastures.
While the name Heatherlee itself is a modern invention, the individual elements have a long history in the British Isles. The heather plant has been an important part of the regional flora for centuries, and it holds cultural significance in Celtic folklore and traditions.
There are no known historical figures of note specifically named Heatherlee. However, individuals with the name Heather have been recorded throughout history, such as Heather Mills (born 1968), the English model and activist.
Other notable individuals with the name Heather include Heather Graham (born 1970), the American actress; Heather Locklear (born 1961), the American actress; Heather O'Rourke (1975-1988), the American child actress; and Heather Matarazzo (born 1982), the American actress.
While the name Heatherlee is a modern creation, it draws upon the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the British Isles, combining elements that evoke the natural beauty of the region's landscapes and flora.
People
Heatherlee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heatherlee 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
Heatherlee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heatherlee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heatherlee 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Heatherlee a common name?
We classify Heatherlee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heatherlee most popular?
The single biggest year for Heatherlee was 1974, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heatherlee is about 44 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 Heatherlee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heatherlee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heatherlee 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 Heatherlee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heatherlee 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 Heatherlee 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 Heatherlee?
Find out how many people share the name Heatherlee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.