Hiedi
A diminutive form of the German name Adelheid, meaning "noble sort".
Name Census estimates that about 940 living Americans carry the first name Hiedi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hiedi today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiedi births was 1979 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiedi. 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
940
~ 1 in 364,632 Americans
Peak year
1979
56 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2012 SSA rank
#14,030
Tracked since 1958
Popularity
Hiedi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiedi from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 432 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
Hiedi 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 Hiedi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hiedis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Washington, Ohio recorded the most babies named Hiedi, while Ohio, Washington, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hiedi
The given name Hiedi has its origins in the Swiss German diminutive form of the name Adelheid, which is derived from the Old High German words "adal" meaning noble and "heit" meaning kind or sort. It is believed to have emerged around the 12th century in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland.
In the 16th century, the name Hiedi gained popularity in the Swiss cantons, particularly in the rural Alpine regions. It was commonly associated with the pastoral lifestyle and the rugged beauty of the Swiss Alps. The name's simplicity and connection to nature resonated with the people of these mountainous areas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hiedi can be found in the church records of the village of Grindelwald, dating back to the late 1500s. It is mentioned in reference to a young girl named Hiedi Amann, who was born in 1587.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hiedi. One of the most famous is Hiedi Brühlmann (1909-1980), a Swiss alpine skier who won multiple Olympic medals in the 1930s and 1940s. Another prominent figure was Hiedi Landis (1920-2011), a Swiss film actress who appeared in several German and Swiss productions during the 1940s and 1950s.
In the literary world, the name Hiedi is closely associated with the beloved children's book "Heidi" by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, published in 1881. The book's titular character, a young orphan girl named Hiedi, became an iconic figure and helped popularize the name worldwide.
Other notable individuals with the name Hiedi include Hiedi Wunderli (1919-2004), a Swiss painter and sculptor known for her abstract expressionist works, and Hiedi Hetzer (1937-2001), a German-Swiss hurdler who won multiple European championships in the 1960s.
Throughout its history, the name Hiedi has maintained a strong connection to its Swiss German roots, evoking images of the idyllic Alpine landscapes and the resilient spirit of the Swiss people.
People
Hiedi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiedi 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
Hiedi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiedi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 940 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiedi 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 364,632 US residents.
Is Hiedi a common name?
We classify Hiedi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,033 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiedi most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiedi was 1979, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiedi is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hiedi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hiedi 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.