Hiedi
Feminine · “noble kind”
Hiedi reverses the two letters at the front of Heidi, and the name it comes from is famous in America for an accident. In 1968 a television network cut away from the end of a football game to start a children's film on time, the losing team scored twice in the last minute, and the switchboard collapsed under the complaints.
How old is the name Hiedi?
Hiedi first appears in US birth records in 1958 — 67 years ago. The typical Hiedi alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 1,000 people named Hiedi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hiedi most popular?
Hiedi peaked in 1972, reaching #1832 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Where it comes from
From Germanic elements meaning noble and kind to Hiedi
The story of Hiedi
The football broadcast is the reason American television now shows games to the end. The network had scheduled a children's film to start at seven; the game overran; the executives tried to change the decision and could not get through to the control room because the phone lines were already jammed with viewers ringing to ask what would happen. The film started, the game's last minute went unbroadcast, and two touchdowns were scored in it. The rules were rewritten within days, and the episode is still cited in broadcasting textbooks under the name of the film.
Meaning
noble kind, at several removes
Heidi is the tail end of a long German name built on words for noble and for sort or kind, and it became a name in its own right through a Swiss novel published in the 1880s. This spelling swaps the first two letters, which changes nothing in the mouth: the vowel pair says the same thing whichever order it is written in, and the difference exists only on the page.
How the name formed
- Germanic elements meaning noble and kind
- a Swiss novel makes Heidi a name in its own right
- the name reaches America in the twentieth century
- a television schedule makes it a byword in 1968
- Hiedi appears among the American spellings
Related forms: Heidi · Adelheid · Heidy
Pronouncing Hiedi
HY-dee
Two syllables, stress at the front, identical to Heidi. The reversed letters are invisible in speech.
Nicknames for Hiedi
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
- 1958
- Most girls named
- 197956 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1832reached in 1972
- Change vs 2011
- +40.0%7 in 2012, from 5
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.
Hiedi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Heidi in German — spelling variant
- Adelheid in German — related form
- Heidy in English — spelling variant
Hiedis among us
people named Hiedi are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Hiedi sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The sound is completely familiar and needs no explanation.
- The name behind it is warm, short and internationally recognized.
- The written form is genuinely rare while the spoken name is universal.
- Heidi is overwhelmingly commoner and the letters will be put back in order everywhere.
- This is the one common respelling that makes a name harder to read rather than easier.
- It is closely dated to the 1960s and 1970s.
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Hiedi
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Hiedis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Hiedi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hiedi in 2025?
- Hiedi is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Hiedi with classmates?
- Hiedi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Helen#461 · Heather#1261 · Hannah#56 · Hazel#21 · Holly#416 · Hailey#104 · Haley#861 · Heidi#340
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hiedi? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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