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Heli

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

(a pleasant) sound, note

Heli has been given to 145 babies in the U.S. since 1997. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2005, with 11 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 90% girls, 10% boys all-time.

Babies named Heli, 2020

1 in 668,000

Heli over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Heli over time

In 2020, Heli went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19932020

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Heli: meaning, origin, and history

(a pleasant) sound, note

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Heli means

Heli means “(a pleasant) sound, note”, associated with heli.

Origin, language, and formation

Heli is used in Estonian and Finnish.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Helga and Helena.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Finnish, Heli is pronounced /ˈheli/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 130 girls were recorded with the name Heli between 1997 and 2020. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2005; its best national rank was #9,685 in 2005.

In the United States, 15 boys were recorded with the name Heli between 1993 and 2008. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1993; its best national rank was #9,253 in 1993.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Heli?

Heli had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2020, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2020
1 in 668,000
5 of 3,342,313 births
Among girls only
1 in 323,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2020
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
463,344 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Heli sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2020 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 463,344 children born in 2020 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Heli. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Helis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Heli was born before 2010 — so the typical Heli is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
52.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
130
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 52.3% of all recorded uses (68).

Is Heli rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 2005 (11)
Years since peak
20
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#9,685
2005

Spellings of Heli

Heli is not the most common spelling — Helen is, with 50.5% against Heli's <0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Heli around the world

Where Heli ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2006–2021
    #5,581
    in 2021
  • South Australia
    1951–1951
    #423
    in 1951

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Heli by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,685
2005
Peak year
2005
11 that year
First recorded
1997
Last recorded
2020
All-time count
130
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,253
1993
Peak year
1993
5 that year
First recorded
1993
Last recorded
2008
All-time count
15
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Heli

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

HelaHelemHeliaMeliRaeliNeliHelviZaeliHeloisaJoeliHellenaYaeliAmeliAneliNefeliHelaenaHelinJaeliHelinaHelyneHelanaNyeliHelmiDaneli

Sibling names for Heli

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Heli

Top names of 2005, Heli's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2005Girls' names starting with HEstonian Girl Names