Heilig surname: meaning, census count and records | FamilyCrests

The Heilig surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,884 people carried this name — #15,533 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 156,300 people counted. That is down 2% from 1,924 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Heilig surname

From the German and Jewish surname, from heilig (“holy”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Heilig» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 308 people named Heilig.

12 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 27 départements, most often Moselle.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born

Born outside France 12
Moselle 146
Bas-Rhin 79
Meurthe-et-Moselle 17
Aveyron 8
Loire 8
Dordogne 7
Paris 4
Gard 3

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

71 people named Heilig live in Switzerland.

They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 21
St. Gallen 20
Graubünden 8
Bern 7
Thurgau 7
Appenzell Innerrhoden 4
Zug 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In print

Heilig in American newspapers,
1891–1907.

Newspaper page from Los Angeles Herald carrying the name Heilig
Los Angeles Herald 1907-07-28
Newspaper page from The San Francisco Call carrying the name Heilig
The San Francisco Call 1901-05-05
Newspaper page from Western Kansas World carrying the name Heilig
Western Kansas World 1891-10-10

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 31,426 pages in all carry the name.

Who carried it

People named Heilig,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Franz Xaver Heilig 1826–1888 · politician
  • Otto Heilig 1865–1941 · author
  • Matthias R. Heilig 1881–1971 · writer
  • Karel Heilig 1883–1942
  • Bruno Heilig 1888–1968 · writer
  • Rudolf Heilig 1889–1940

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Heilig.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Heilig is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See what a volume holds
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