Heran
A feminine Iranian name meaning "woman" or "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Heran. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Heran today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heran births was 2019 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heran. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Heran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
2019
37 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,927
Tracked since 2003
Census
Heran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 386 people with the first name Heran, which placed it at #24,794 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
#24,794
National first-name rank
People counted
386
386 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heran is Black at 65.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.7%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Heran 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 Heran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.0% · 251
- Asian and Pacific Islander20.7% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino9.8% · 38
- White3.4% · 13
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Heran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heran 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 132 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
Heran 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 Heran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Herans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Minnesota, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Heran, while Texas, Georgia, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Heran
The name Heran has its roots in the Persian language, originating from the ancient Iranian region during the pre-Islamic era. It is derived from the Old Persian word "Heran," which means "leader" or "chieftain." This name carries strong connotations of authority, command, and leadership.
In the ancient Persian texts, particularly the Zoroastrian scriptures, the name Heran is mentioned as one of the noble warriors who fought alongside the legendary hero Rostam. These stories depict Heran as a brave and valiant soldier, renowned for his prowess on the battlefield.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Heran can be traced back to the 5th century BCE, when a Persian nobleman named Heran served as a governor in the Achaemenid Empire during the reign of Darius the Great. Historical records indicate that Heran played a crucial role in the administration of the empire and was highly regarded for his loyalty and competence.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Heran. In the 9th century CE, Heran was the name of a renowned Persian poet and scholar who contributed significantly to the literary and intellectual landscape of his time. His works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and wisdom, have been preserved and celebrated in Persian literature.
During the medieval period, Heran al-Rashid was a celebrated Arab mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century CE. He made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and geometry, and his works were widely studied and referenced by scholars across the Islamic world.
In more recent times, Heran Chowdhury was a prominent Bangladeshi activist and politician who played a pivotal role in the country's struggle for independence from Pakistan in the late 20th century. Born in 1928, Chowdhury dedicated his life to the cause of democracy and human rights, and his name remains etched in the annals of Bangladesh's history.
Another notable figure with the name Heran was Heran Abeyewardene, a Sri Lankan diplomat and statesman who served as the country's Foreign Minister from 1970 to 1977. Born in 1913, Abeyewardene was instrumental in shaping Sri Lanka's foreign policy during a crucial period in its history.
While the name Heran has its origins in the ancient Persian language, it has transcended cultural boundaries and found its place in various regions and societies throughout history, adorning the lives of leaders, scholars, artists, and visionaries who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields.
People
Heran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heran 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
Heran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heran 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 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Heran a common name?
We classify Heran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heran most popular?
The single biggest year for Heran was 2019, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heran is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Heran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 386 people with the name Heran, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,794 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 Heran 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 Heran?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Heran on both sides of the split. Of the 377 people counted with this name, 94 were male (24.9%) and 283 were female (75.1%). 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 Heran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Heran is Black at 65.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.7%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Heran most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Heran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.0% (251 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 Heran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Heran a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heran 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 Heran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Heran 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 Heran 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 Heran?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.