Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/25/heather-used-to-be-a-popular-b.html
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Shame, I always thought it was a nice name. I wonder what triggered the backlash.
I hear it’s still a popular adult name, especially for women in their 40’s. 
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I blame that movie on the current lack of Heathers…
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I’d blissfully forgotten about that.
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Bingo! The decline starts in 1988, when the movie was released: https://youtu.be/v5gHF3FNr78
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The current rising hipster backlash is actually against unique names, turning back toward your Charlie’s, Ruths, etc…We should go through one more “unique name” cycle and then Heather and Katie and Trevor will all come flooding back.
Not necessarily simple cause and effect though. The movie’s power played on the symbolism that the name already packed. The public attitude about the name Heather from the slacker/rebel (Gen-X) set was probably more of an intervening variable.
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Yeah, I know. I just thought it was funny. Randall Munroe told me about cause and effect: https://xkcd.com/111/
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You might think the same thing would have happened to Jason after Friday the 13th, and sure enough, 1980 is when the decline begins. It’s still ten times more popular than Heather though, and speaking as a Jason, I’m rather uncomfortable with the implications. However, I’m happy to say I’ve never seen either movie.
Here’s a popularity curve comparison, Heather vs Jason.
Jason does make a weird resurgence in the 80s, then continues in a rapid decline. We’re now around 1965 levels of popularity, at 110th most popular name.
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Was Neighbours popular in the US then? There were a lot of Kylies and Jasons born in the UK around that time because Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were very popular actors on the show.
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I don’t know if it was huge, but maybe that was enough to make a global statistical blip.
I know many women named Heather in their 30’s (maybe 10). Only a few in their 40’s.
Most of them seem to be very attractive regardless. I don’t know why the correlation (may be just random).
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As a non-native English speaker this is one of the names that baffles me the most. Spoken with a typical southern English accent you just cough up one and a half syllable’s worth of muffled consonant sounds; HUDDDu
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The name “Heather” packed some symbolism of evil young women prior to the film?
I agree here, certainly “Jennifer” suffered a not quite as dramatic decline. Not sure if I agree with the term unique names. Maybe the “hipster backlash” is just a typical cultural backlash against perceived common names that happens every generation.
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Occasionally I see a mention of “Little Bobby and/or Suzie” and I laugh, because the only Bobby I know is a great-grandfather. When is the last time anybody named their baby Suzie?
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Come on now, everybody knows little Bobby Tables.
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I knew TONS of Heathers in elementary school, but it weirdly feels very 80s now.
My thirtysomething friends all tend towards ‘grandma’ names these days: Hazel, Olive, Rosemary, and the like.
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Maybe you’re attracted to the name Heather. 
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All good Jason’s must date women named Jennifer.
Jennifer has undergone a similar fade.
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