Meaning: Its source is Adelheid, a German name meaning "Exalted nature."

Popularity: The name Heidy ranked 4243rd in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name appears on the 1990 U.S. Census lists, it is used by only a small percentage of the general population.

Narrative: This short form of Adelheid emerged among the German Swiss. It gained world-wide popularity upon the publication of Johanna Spyri's 1881 children's novel Heidi.

In 1937 the first of a number of film versions of the tale was released. Child star Shirley Temple helped to create the blonde and blue-eyed stereotype that some associate with Heidi. However, the title character in the novel is dark-haired.