Heba
An Arabic feminine name meaning "generous and noble".
Name Census estimates that about 1,354 living Americans carry the first name Heba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heba today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heba births was 2007 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heba. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 253,142 Americans
Peak year
2007
51 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,487
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Heba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heba from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 434 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Heba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heba 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 Heba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hebas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Heba, while Virginia, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heba
The name Heba has its origins in the Arabic language, where it is believed to have derived from the root word "hab," which means "to gift" or "to bestow." This name is thought to have been in use since ancient times, with some scholars suggesting that it may have been influenced by the ancient Egyptian goddess Hebet, who was associated with fertility and childbirth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Heba can be found in Islamic literature, specifically in the hadith (a collection of sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad). In these texts, Heba is mentioned as the name of a woman who lived during the time of the Prophet.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Heba. One of the most famous is Heba Noor el-Huda (1924-2018), an Egyptian feminist and activist who played a significant role in the women's rights movement in Egypt during the mid-20th century. She founded the New Woman Foundation, which aimed to empower women and promote gender equality.
Another prominent figure with the name Heba is Heba Morayef (born 1977), an Egyptian human rights activist and director of the North Africa regional office for Human Rights Watch. She has been a vocal advocate for human rights and has worked tirelessly to document and report on human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa region.
In the realm of literature, Heba Hayek (born 1958) is a renowned Egyptian writer and journalist. She has authored several novels and short story collections, exploring themes of identity, culture, and the complexities of modern Arab society.
The name Heba has also been associated with notable figures in the field of academia. Heba Handoussa (born 1950) is an Egyptian economist and professor who has served as the director of the Economic Research Forum, a prestigious research institution based in Cairo.
Lastly, Heba El-Cheikh (born 1950) is a prominent Egyptian-American historian and scholar of Islamic studies. She has authored numerous books and articles on the history and culture of the Arab and Islamic world, and has held academic positions at various universities in the United States and the Middle East.
People
Heba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heba 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
Heba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,354 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heba 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 253,142 US residents.
Is Heba a common name?
We classify Heba as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,383 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heba most popular?
The single biggest year for Heba was 2007, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heba is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Heba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heba 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.
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.