Hee
A Korean feminine name meaning "cheerful" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Hee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hee today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hee births was 1982 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hee. 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 Hee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1982
6 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1989 SSA rank
#11,334
Tracked since 1960
Census
Hee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,842 people with the first name Hee, which placed it at #5,844 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
#5,844
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,842 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (5.2%) and Black (1.7%). 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 Hee 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 Hee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.7% · 2,605
- White5.2% · 148
- Black or African American1.7% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 21
- Two or more races0.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Popularity
Hee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hee from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 22 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
Hee 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 Hee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hee
The name Hee has its origins in the Korean language and culture, with its earliest known usage dating back to the ancient kingdoms of the Korean Peninsula. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, which was completed in 1145 AD.
In the Korean language, the name Hee is derived from the word "hee" (희), which means "bright" or "radiant." This association with light and brightness has often led the name to be interpreted as a symbol of joy, happiness, and optimism. It is believed that parents would bestow this name upon their child with the hope that they would bring light and positivity into the world.
Throughout Korean history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Hee. One of the earliest was Hee Hwang (581-644 AD), a renowned Buddhist monk and scholar during the Silla Kingdom, who is credited with introducing the Hwaeom (Huayan) school of Buddhism to Korea. Another prominent bearer of the name was Hee Ja (1741-1826), a revered Confucian scholar and calligrapher during the Joseon Dynasty.
Moving forward in time, the name Hee gained international recognition in the 20th century with the rise of Hee-sook Kim (1910-1998), a South Korean poet and feminist activist who played a pivotal role in the Korean women's rights movement. Her works, which often explored themes of love, nature, and the female experience, earned her widespread critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
In the realm of sports, Hee-won Han (born 1988) is a notable figure, having represented South Korea in archery at multiple Olympic Games and winning gold medals in both the individual and team events at the 2012 London Olympics.
Another significant figure bearing the name Hee is Hee Seok Kim (1894-1986), a Korean independence activist and politician who served as the first Vice President of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. His unwavering dedication to the cause of Korean independence and his efforts in establishing the modern South Korean state have cemented his place in the nation's history.
While these are just a few examples, the name Hee has been carried by many other remarkable individuals throughout the centuries, each contributing to the rich tapestry of Korean culture and heritage. Its enduring popularity and positive connotations continue to make it a cherished name choice for many families in Korea and beyond.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hee
People
Hee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hee 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
Hee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hee 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Hee a common name?
We classify Hee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hee most popular?
The single biggest year for Hee was 1982, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hee is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,842 people with the name Hee, or 0.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,844 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 Hee 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 Hee?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hee on both sides of the split. Of the 2,843 people counted with this name, 881 were male (31.0%) and 1,962 were female (69.0%). 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 Hee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (5.2%) and Black (1.7%). 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 Hee most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (2,605 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 Hee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hee 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 Hee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hee 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 Hee 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 share the name Hee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.