Hedda
A feminine name of Norse origin, meaning "of battle or conflict".
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Hedda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hedda today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hedda births was 1943 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hedda. 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
- • The typical person named Hedda is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Heddas were born before 1966.
People living today
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
1943
13 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2007 SSA rank
#16,204
Tracked since 1900
Census
Hedda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 375 people with the first name Hedda, which placed it at #25,327 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
#25,327
National first-name rank
People counted
375
375 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hedda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hedda is White at 70.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.6%). 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 Hedda 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 Hedda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.4% · 264
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.6% · 36
- Black or African American6.4% · 24
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Hedda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hedda from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 93 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hedda 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 Hedda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heddas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hedda
The name Hedda is of Old Norse origin, derived from the Old Norse word "heidhr," which means "bright" or "shining." The name likely emerged during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries, among the Scandinavian peoples.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hedda appears in the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval historical text that chronicles the settlement of Iceland. The book mentions a woman named Hedda, who was among the early settlers of the island.
In the 13th century, the name Hedda gained prominence with Hedda of Gudenå, a Danish noblewoman and landowner. She was a powerful figure in her time and is mentioned in several historical records from the period.
Another notable bearer of the name was Hedda Gabler, the protagonist of the famous 1890 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The character's name was likely chosen by Ibsen to reflect the character's strength and determination, qualities associated with the name's Old Norse roots.
Throughout history, several women have borne the name Hedda and made significant contributions in various fields. One such individual was Hedda Sterne (1910-2011), an American artist and pioneer of the Abstract Expressionist movement. Her works are featured in major museums around the world.
Another notable Hedda was Hedda Hopper (1885-1966), an American actress, gossip columnist, and radio host. She was known for her sharp wit and influential voice in Hollywood during the Golden Age of cinema.
Hedda Morrison (1908-1991) was a Swedish writer and translator who played a crucial role in introducing Swedish literature to English-speaking audiences. Her translations of works by authors like August Strindberg and Par Lagerkvist were widely acclaimed.
Hedda Zinner (1905-1994) was an Austrian theater and film actress who appeared in numerous productions in Germany and Austria during the 1930s and 1940s. She was celebrated for her performances on stage and in movies.
The name Hedda has maintained a presence throughout history, associated with strength, brightness, and cultural significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Hedda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hedda 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
Hedda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hedda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hedda 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Hedda a common name?
We classify Hedda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 222 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hedda most popular?
The single biggest year for Hedda was 1943, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hedda is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hedda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 375 people with the name Hedda, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,327 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 Hedda 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 Hedda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hedda appears almost entirely female. Of the 376 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Hedda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hedda is White at 70.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.6%). 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 Hedda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hedda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.4% (264 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 Hedda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hedda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hedda 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 Hedda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hedda 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 Hedda 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 are called Hedda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.