girl's name
Héloïse
ay-lo-EEZ
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 100 (France)
- Births on record 31,091
France
#89
2025 births
Héloïse is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "healthy" and "wide," carried by the twelfth-century scholar whose letters to Abelard are among the most famous correspondence in Europe. It ranks eighty-ninth in France and is rising.
- Héloïse is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 2017, when 835 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,053 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Héloïse over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 1,125 |
| 1910s | 590 |
| 1920s | 445 |
| 1930s | 165 |
| 1940s | 80 |
| 1950s | 55 |
| 1960s | 100 |
| 1970s | 660 |
| 1980s | 2,820 |
| 1990s | 5,385 |
| 2000s | 6,805 |
| 2010s | 7,495 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,880 |
What Héloïse means
Héloïse means healthy and wide, from Germanic elements meaning sound or whole and broad or ample. Some sources give famous warrior instead, confusing it with Louise, which is a separate Germanic compound.
Where Héloïse comes from
Héloïse descends from the Germanic Helewidis, joining heil, healthy or whole, with wid, wide. It reached French through Frankish naming and is quite separate from Louise, despite the frequent confusion. Its bearer is Héloïse d'Argenteuil, a scholar of Latin, Greek and Hebrew who studied under Peter Abelard in Paris around 1115; their affair, her forced entry into a convent and his castration by her uncle's men are recounted in his Historia Calamitatum, and the letters they exchanged afterwards are read as much for their theology as their feeling. The pair are buried together at Père Lachaise. The name carries that whole story in France in a way it does not in English.
Héloïse in use
Héloïse ranks eighty-ninth in France with about 570 births in 2025 and its peak in our records is 2018. It has barely traveled outside France: the unaccented Heloise appears in Ireland and Scotland only beyond 500, and in decades-old records rather than current ones. Our data carries the name from 1900.
How popular is Héloïse?
In 2025, Héloïse was given to 560 babies in France, ranking #89 that year. It is one of the most popular names in France.
Where Héloïse is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Héloïse is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Heloise | Heloise is a spelling of Héloïse, used in the United States, where it ranks #6,369. | 2,536 |
| Heloïse | Heloïse is a rare spelling of Héloïse, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 190 times, mostly in France. | 190 |
| Héloise | Héloise is a rare spelling of Héloïse, written with an acute accent and recorded about 65 times, mostly in France. | 65 |
Names that peaked alongside Héloïse
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Héloïse also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Héloïse over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Héloïse
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Héloïse in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- French
- Héloïse
Sibling names for Héloïse
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Héloïse — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Héloïse
What does the name Héloïse mean?
Héloïse means "healthy" and "wide," from Germanic elements.
Is Héloïse related to Louise?
No, despite frequent confusion. Louise is a separate Germanic compound meaning famous warrior.
Who was Héloïse d'Argenteuil?
A twelfth-century scholar whose letters to Peter Abelard are among the most famous correspondence in Europe.
How do you pronounce Héloïse?
ay-lo-EEZ, three syllables. The diaeresis marks the i as separately sounded.
Is Héloïse a girl's or a boy's name?
Héloïse is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Héloïse most popular?
Héloïse peaked in 2017, when 835 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Héloïse?
Héloïse is usually shortened to Lois.
Is Héloïse a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Héloïse currently ranks #89 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.