Hedda

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 19 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◐

Hedda is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name505 records spelled Hedda3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Norway, Sweden

  Also written Hédda

• Arabic given name319 records spelled Hedda3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Morocco, United States, Algeria, Norway

  Also written Heddà, Hédda

45 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●

Hedda 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 French, German short form of Hedwig, from Germanic 'combat' + 'fight'.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In German, im 19. Jh. entlehnter weibl. Vom., nordische Kurzform von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, Hedda är ursprungligen en nordisk smekform till → Hedvig. Det gjordes bekant genom Henrik Ibsens skådespel Hedda Gabler (1891). De senaste årtiondena har det blivit ett populärt namn. En känd namnbärare är skådespelerskan Hedda Stiernstedt (f. 1987). I den finlandssvenska almanackan 15 oktober.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• Nordic pet form of HEDWwic.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Scandinavian: pet form of HEDVIG . It is widely known in the English-speaking world as the name of the eponymous heroine of Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler (1890). Cognate: Italian: Edda .

  as a word

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●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 59 years between 1963–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Hedda Anderssonb. 1861SESwedish physician (1861-1950)
• Hedda Eulenbergb. 1876DEGerman translator and writer (1876-1960)
• Hedda Hopperb. 1885USAmerican gossip columnist and actress (1885–1966)
• Hedda Dysonb. 1897NZDutch born New Zealand journalist and magazine editor
• Hedda Zinnerb. 1904DEGerman political writer, translator, actress, and journalist (1904–1994)
• Hedda Morrisonb. 1908DEGerman photographer (1908–1991)
• Hedda Sterneb. 1910RORomanian-American artist (1910–2012)
• Hedda Berntsenb. 1976NONorwegian freestyle skier
• Hedda Stiernstedtb. 1987SESwedish actress
• Hedda Virikb. 1989NOcostume designer

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 · 335 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Hedda?

We estimate roughly 14 thousand people bear Hedda (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Hedda have the most bearers?

We estimate about 7.2 thousand people bear Hedda in Norway, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled hedda.

Where is Hedda most common?

Hedda is densest in Norway, where the national register counts about 1 in 754 people carrying it.

How common is Hedda compared with other names?

In Norway, Hedda is the 181st most common given name of 38,312 given names recorded there.

Is Hedda a male or female name?

Hedda 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 Hedda mean?

Recorded meaning: Scandinavian; a feminine form associated with ‘battle/contention.’