Heith
A variation or respelling of Heath, meaning a field or meadow.
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Heith. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Heith today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heith births was 1974 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heith. 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
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
1974
31 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2011 SSA rank
#10,006
Tracked since 1966
Census
Heith in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 517 people with the first name Heith, which placed it at #20,108 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
#20,108
National first-name rank
People counted
517
517 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heith
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heith is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Heith 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 Heith at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.2% · 456
- Black or African American4.6% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 18
- Two or more races1.9% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Heith: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heith from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 240 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Heith 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 Heith during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heiths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Heith
The name Heith has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, tracing back to the Proto-Germanic root "haiþi," which means "heath" or "heathland." This connection to nature and the rugged landscapes of northern Europe is a hallmark of the name's heritage.
In the early medieval period, the name Heith was relatively common among the Anglo-Saxon populations of what is now England. It was often spelled as "Hæth" or "Hæð" in Old English documents and manuscripts. The name's popularity may have stemmed from its association with the untamed beauty of the heaths and moors that dotted the British countryside.
While no specific references to the name Heith can be found in ancient religious texts or historical records, its Germanic roots suggest that it was likely borne by individuals in various tribes and clans that inhabited the regions of modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia during the early centuries of the Common Era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Heith was Heith of Mercia, a minor noble who lived in the kingdom of Mercia, now part of central England, in the 8th century. Another notable figure was Heith the Skald, a renowned Norse poet and storyteller who lived in Iceland in the late 10th century.
In the 12th century, a knight named Sir Heith de Burnham fought alongside Richard the Lionheart during the Third Crusade. De Burnham's exploits were chronicled in contemporary accounts, and he is remembered as a brave and loyal warrior.
During the Renaissance, a Dutch artist named Heith van der Meer (1525-1597) gained recognition for his portraiture and religious paintings, which adorned several churches and private collections in the Low Countries.
Centuries later, in the 19th century, Heith Barker (1823-1895) was a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal Albert Hall and parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Heith. While the name may have waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, its deep-rooted connection to the natural landscapes and cultural heritage of northern Europe has endured.
People
Heith + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heith 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
Heith: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heith?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heith 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Heith a common name?
We classify Heith as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heith most popular?
The single biggest year for Heith was 1974, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heith is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Heith in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 517 people with the name Heith, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,108 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 Heith 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 Heith?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Heith appears almost entirely male. Of the 520 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Heith?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heith is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Heith most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Heith in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (456 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 Heith in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heith a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heith in the SSA data are male. 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 Heith still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heith 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 Heith 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 named Heith?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.