Hera
Feminine
Hera is the queen of the Greek gods — Zeus' wife and sister, guardian of marriage, and the only figure in that pantheon who consistently gets the better of him. She is not a decorative goddess, and the name has never been a decorative one either.
How old is the name Hera?
Hera first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Hera is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Hera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hera most popular?
Hera peaked in 2025, reaching #2719 nationally. Today it ranks #2719, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Hera
Hera was worshipped at Argos and on Samos, in sanctuaries older than most of the myths told about her, and the archaeology suggests she was an important goddess in the Greek world before Zeus arrived to be married to her. In the poems she is the protector of wives and the enemy of her husband's lovers, which makes her by turns the wronged party and the implacable one. Her name reached English through the classical revival rather than through any continuous line of use, and as a given name it is recent everywhere — a goddess borrowed rather than inherited.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Her name is older than the Greek that explains it, and the explanations are guesses. One connects it to hora, 'season' or 'ripeness', giving a sense of the right time — for marriage, among other things. Another links it to heros, the word behind 'hero'. A third holds that it is pre-Greek entirely, taken over from an earlier language along with the goddess herself, which would put it beyond recovery. Nothing here is settled.
Pronouncing Hera
HEER-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. American English usually says HEER-uh; British English often HAIR-uh, and the Greek is closer to the second. Both are heard and neither is wrong.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 202563 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2719reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +1.6%63 in 2025, from 62
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Hera in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ήρα in Greek — transliteration
- Iuno in Latin — related form
- Hera in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Texas.
Heras among us
people named Hera are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 25,512 born in 2025 was named Hera
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Hera
- #2719
- Hera on the 2025 chart
- #888
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Hera went to 63 girls in 2025, but Heera is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 72, which makes it the 888th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,831 places above the chart.
- Hera63
- Heera9
About 1 girl in 22,323 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 25,512 for Hera itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Beautiful test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hera's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Beautiful climbed just as high around 2008, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Beautiful's path sketches the road Hera is walking now.
Hera sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hera is headed
Hera should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hera beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hera in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, instantly readable, and short enough to carry any surname.
- A major figure with a documented cult and a literature behind her, not a name borrowed from a list.
- Recognized across every country that teaches the classics, which is most of them.
- In the myths she is best known for her jealousy and her revenge on Zeus' lovers, which is what a curious relative will find.
- It sits very close to Hero, Nera and Vera in speech.
- Naming a child for the queen of the gods is a large gesture, and it will read as one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Hera to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Hera
Feminine · #2719 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Heras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Hera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Hera?
- Hera is the most-used spelling in US records — 63 of the 72 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Heera.
- How popular is the name Hera in 2025?
- Hera ranks #2719 among US girl names in 2025, with 63 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hera?
- About 1 in every 25,512 US girls born in 2025 was named Hera — 63 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hera with classmates?
- Hera will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hera
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ryver#2719 · Kaliana#2719 · Morrigan#2719 · Asher#2719 · Aditi#2719 · Carley#2719 · Betsy#2719 · Emy#2719
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hera? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hera and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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