Heydi
Feminine · “noble kind”
Heidi is a Swiss novel from 1881 and Heydi is that novel arriving in Central America. Spanish writes the sound English spells ei as ey, so the respelling is not decoration: it is what the name looks like once a Spanish-speaking family writes down what they hear.
How old is the name Heydi?
Heydi first appears in US birth records in 1988 — 37 years ago. The typical Heydi alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 700 people named Heydi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Heydi most popular?
Heydi peaked in 2008, reaching #3710 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 2,836 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Where it comes from
From adal heid to Heydi
The story of Heydi
Johanna Spyri published Heidi in 1881, and it became one of the most translated children's books ever written; the name went with it into every language the book reached. In Spanish-speaking countries the spelling had to change, because Spanish does not use ei for this sound and does use ey, as in rey and ley. Heydi and Heidy are the results, and they are strongest in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, where the book was widely read in translation. Heydi's best year in United States records is 2008, and it belongs almost entirely to Central American families.
Meaning
noble kind, of noble sort
Heidi is a Swiss German short form of Adelheid, combining the Germanic elements adal, noble, and heid, kind or sort, and it is the same name as Adelaide and Alice. The clip takes the second element rather than the first, which is unusual; most short forms keep the front of the word. The ey spelling is a Spanish orthographic adaptation and carries no meaning.
How the name formed
- adal heid
- Adelheid
- Heidi
- Heydi
Related forms: Heidi · Heidy · Adelheid · Adelaide
Pronouncing Heydi
HAY-dee
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The Spanish ey and the German ei give the same long a sound, so Heydi and Heidi are identical aloud.
Nicknames for Heydi
Moderate
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
- 1988
- Most girls named
- 200843 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3710reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- −15.0%17 in 2025, from 20
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.
Heydi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Heidi in German — spelling variant
- Heidy in Spanish — spelling variant
- Adelheid in German — related form
- Adelaide in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Heydis among us
people named Heydi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named Heydi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Heydi
- #6546
- Heydi on the 2025 chart
- #311
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Heydi went to 17 girls in 2025, but Heidi and Heidy are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 1,012, which makes it the 311th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,235 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,588 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 94,545 for Heydi 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 Felissa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Heydi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Felissa climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Felissa's path sketches the road Heydi is walking now.
Heydi 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
Heydi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Heydi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Germanic meaning and one of the best-known children's books behind it.
- The spelling reads correctly to Spanish speakers, which Heidi does not.
- Five letters and no silent ones in Spanish terms.
- Heidi is the international standard and will be written instead.
- Heidy, Heydi and Heidi all circulate in Central American records.
- In English the first syllable spells an interjection.
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What they receive
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Heydi
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Heydis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Heydi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Heydi?
- Heydi is one of 3 recorded spellings. Heidi is the more common one — 894 births in 2025 against 17 for Heydi.
- How popular is the name Heydi in 2025?
- Heydi ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Heydi?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named Heydi — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Heydi with classmates?
- Heydi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Heydi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Heydi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Heydi and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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