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Hieu

#8,492 in 2025Boys' name

Form of Jehu

Hieu has been given to 864 babies in the U.S. since 1976. In 2025 it ranked #8,492 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1984, with 38 recorded.

Babies named Hieu, 2025

1 in 368,000

Hieu over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Hieu: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Jehu

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Hieu means

Hieu is a form of Jehu.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Hieu → Jehu. The family’s meaning is “Jehu son of Omri”, recorded in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Jehu.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 836 boys were recorded with the name Hieu between 1976 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 38 in 1984; its best national rank was #1,588 in 1984.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #9,932 in 2020 to #8,492 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,688 in 2015 to #8,492 in 2025.

In the United States, 28 girls were recorded with the name Hieu between 1982 and 1988. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1984; its best national rank was #6,997 in 1984.

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 Hieu?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,492
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Hieu sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 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 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Hieu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Hieus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Hieu was born before 1993 — so the typical Hieu is around 32 today.

Median birth year
1993
About 32 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
34.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
31.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
836
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 34.2% of all recorded uses (286).

Is Hieu 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
+2,944
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,440
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−804
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.90×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
23.7%
Peak was 1984 (38)
Years since peak
41
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
39.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,588
1984

Spellings of Hieu

Hieu is not the most common spelling — Huey is, with 37.6% against Hieu's 4.4%.

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.

Where Hieu is used

Across 1910–2025, Hieu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 145,240 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Louisiana1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Hieu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Hieu around the world

Where Hieu 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
    1998–2011
    #3,830
    in 2011
  • Canada
    1996–2004
    #2,001
    in 2004
  • South Australia
    1980–2012
    #771
    in 2012

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

Hieu by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,492
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,440
Best rank ever
#1,588
1984
Peak year
1984
38 that year
First recorded
1976
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
836
Count in 2025
9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,997
1984
Peak year
1984
9 that year
First recorded
1982
Last recorded
1988
All-time count
28
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Hieu

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

HienHiepAlieuMatthieuMathieuHieroTrieu

Sibling names for Hieu

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 Hieu

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