The Hey surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 1,887 people carried this name — #15,508 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 156,300 people counted. That is down 4% from 1,971 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 100 people named Hey.
14 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 12 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
34 people named Hey live in Switzerland.
They live in 5 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
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 the Nordic population registers
20 people named Hey is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Hey in American newspapers,
1904–1905.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,397,998 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Hey,
with a public archive behind them.
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William Hey 1736–1819 · politician -
Richard Hey 1745–1835 · barrister -
Valerie Maud Skelton d. 1989
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Walter Lancaster Hey d. 1981
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Jean Hey 1455–1505 · illuminator
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Jean Hey 1455–1505 · illuminator
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Hey.
- Hettler 382 · U.S. census
- Hetz 554 · U.S. census
- Hetzel 3,607 · U.S. census
- Heu 796 · U.S. census
- Heumann 473 · U.S. census
- Heussner 256 · U.S. census
- Heyd 464 · U.S. census
- Heydon 348 · U.S. census
- Heydt 859 · U.S. census
- Heyer 3,295 · U.S. census
- Heyman 2,838 · U.S. census
- Heymann 704 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Hey 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.