Humanverse

Heydi vs Heyssel

American parents have registered 697 Heydis since 1880, against 41 Heyssels. Heydi is still ahead, with 17 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Heydi against Heyssel, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Heydi Heyssel

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 36 years in which either name was published, Heydi for 35 years and Heyssel for 1 year. The lead changed hands 2 times.

Side by side

  Heydi Heyssel
Total US births 69741
Most in one year 4329
Babies in 2025 1712
Estimated living today 69040
Median age today 161
Peak year 20082024
Best rank 3,710th girls4,669th girls
Rank in 2025 6,546th8,362nd
First recorded 19882024
Girls / boys 697 / 041 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Heydis alive today are over 16; half the Heyssels are over 1. That is 15 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Heydi and Heyssel.