Heiress
A feminine name derived from heir, denoting one who inherits property.
Name Census estimates that about 709 living Americans carry the first name Heiress. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heiress today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heiress births was 2019 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heiress. 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
709
~ 1 in 483,433 Americans
Peak year
2019
95 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,494
Tracked since 2004
Popularity
Heiress: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heiress from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 366 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Heiress remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heiress 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 Heiress during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heiress' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Heiress, while Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heiress
The name Heiress is an English word derived from the Old French "heresse", which in turn comes from the Latin "heres" meaning "heir". It is a feminine form of the word "heir", referring to a woman who inherits property or a title. The earliest recorded use of the word "heiress" dates back to the 14th century.
The name Heiress was likely not used as a given name until much later, perhaps in the 17th or 18th century, when it became fashionable among the aristocracy to give their daughters names that reflected their status and inheritance rights. During this period, the name may have been bestowed upon the daughters of wealthy landowners or noblemen who were set to inherit their family's estates or titles.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Heiress was Heiress Cecilia Blount (1550-1592), the illegitimate daughter of Sir John Blount and Antonia Bassano. She was known for her beauty and her relationship with Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII.
In the 18th century, Heiress Elizabeth Percy (1726-1776), the daughter of Sir Hugh Smithson and Elizabeth Seymour, inherited the vast estates of her childless uncle, the Duke of Somerset. Her marriage to Sir Hugh Smithson, who took the name Percy, united two wealthy families and established the Dukedom of Northumberland.
Another notable Heiress was Heiress Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673), the daughter of Thomas Cavendish and Christina Bruce. She was a prolific writer and philosopher, publishing numerous works on various subjects, including science, philosophy, and literature.
In the 19th century, Heiress Georgiana Spencer (1836-1892), the daughter of John Spencer and Sarah Villiers, was known for her beauty and her marriage to William Cavendish, the 7th Duke of Devonshire. She was a prominent figure in British society and a patron of the arts.
Lastly, Heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964), the daughter of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith, was an American socialite and heiress to the Vanderbilt family fortune. Her marriage to Charles Spencer-Churchill, the 9th Duke of Marlborough, was one of the most famous society weddings of the era.
People
Heiress + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heiress 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
Heiress: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heiress?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 709 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heiress 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 483,433 US residents.
Is Heiress a common name?
We classify Heiress as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 714 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heiress most popular?
The single biggest year for Heiress was 2019, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heiress is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Heiress a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heiress 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.