Heshy
A diminutive or pet form of the Hebrew name Hershel.
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Heshy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Heshy today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heshy births was 2022 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heshy. 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 Heshy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
2022
9 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,918
Tracked since 2004
Popularity
Heshy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heshy from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 21 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
Heshy 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 Heshy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heshys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Heshy
The given name Heshy is a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Heshel, which is derived from the biblical name Ezekiel. The name Ezekiel comes from the Hebrew phrase "Yeḥezqel," meaning "God strengthens." The name can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts and the Old Testament of the Bible, where it was borne by the prophet Ezekiel.
In the 16th century, the name Heshel gained popularity among Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe. It was often shortened to Heshy or Heshie, particularly in Yiddish-speaking communities. The name Heshy became a common Jewish name, especially in Hasidic communities.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Heshy dates back to the 18th century. Rabbi Heshel ben Menachem Mendel of Apt, also known as the Oheiv Yisroel (1696-1764), was a prominent Hasidic leader and author who helped spread the Hasidic movement in Poland and Ukraine.
Another notable figure with the name Heshy was Rabbi Heshel Twersky (1888-1920), a Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. He was renowned for his piety and teachings and is remembered as a great scholar of Hasidic thought.
In the 20th century, Rabbi Heshel Segal (1907-1995) was a prominent Hasidic leader and the Grand Rabbi of the Modzitz Hasidic dynasty. He was known for his unwavering commitment to Torah study and his efforts to rebuild the Hasidic community after the Holocaust.
Rabbi Heshel Schachter (born 1941) is a contemporary American Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He is widely respected for his expertise in Jewish law and his contributions to the world of Torah scholarship.
Another famous bearer of the name Heshy was Heshey Zelermyer (1904-1992), a British-born American actor and comedian who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout his career, including the iconic sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show."
People
Heshy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heshy 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
Heshy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heshy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heshy 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Heshy a common name?
We classify Heshy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 52 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heshy most popular?
The single biggest year for Heshy was 2022, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heshy is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Heshy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heshy 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.
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.