Heather

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 4 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Heather is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name283K records spelled Heather2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Heatheṙ

• Spanish given name276K records spelled Heather7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, France, Brazil, United Kingdom

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Heåther

• Greek given name12K records spelled Heather3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Χεδερ, Χέδερ

• Thai given name7.0K records spelled Heather6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Thailand, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written เฮทเธอร์, เฮ็ทเธอร์, เฮเธอร, เฮเธอร์

68 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Heather is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Plant name that seems to have originated in the 19th century when botanical names became fashionable.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, for atte hethe; first attested John, Henry le Hether 1327 SRWo, 1332 SRSr; see HEATH

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• From the vocabulary word denoting the hardy, brightly coloured plant (Middle English hather; the spelling was altered in the 18th century as a result of folk etymological association with heath).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, topographic name, a variant of Heath with the addition of the habitational suffix -er. This surname is widespread in southern England, and also well established in Ireland.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, An evergreen plant, Calluna vulgaris, with spiky leaves and small purple, pink, or white flowers.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 102 years between 1914–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Heather Angelb. 1909GBBritish actress (1909–1986)
• Beverly D'Angelob. 1951USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (born 1951)
• Heather Locklearb. 1961USAmerican actress (born 1961)
• Heather Langenkampb. 1964USAmerican actress
• Heather Grahamb. 1970USAmerican actress
• Dita Von Teeseb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican Egyptian burlesque dancer and model (born 1972)
• Heather O'Rourkeb. 1975USAmerican actress (1975–1988)
• Heather Burnsb. 1975USAmerican actress
• Heather Matarazzob. 1982USAmerican actress
• Heather Morrisb. 1987USAmerican actress, dancer, singer, and model

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 803 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Heather?

We estimate roughly 474 thousand people bear Heather (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Heather have the most bearers?

We estimate about 473 thousand people bear Heather in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled heather.

How common is Heather compared with other names?

In the United States, Heather is the 95th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Heather a male or female name?

Heather is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Heather mean?

Recorded meaning: English name meaning “heather” (the plant).