Who Is This Heather Person Everyone Keeps Talking About on TikTok?

If you’ve spent a significant amount of time on TikTok lately, chances are you’ve seen tons of people talking about Heather. But who is Heather? A famous TikTok star? A certain celebrity? Everyone is talking about her in videos and in the comment sections of those videos, but no one is explaining what it means. It can get pretty confusing.

The trend of calling people “Heather” is relatively new to TikTok, but it’s a super simple concept that’s very easy to understand. First off, don’t worry: It’s (mostly) a good thing! Here’s what you need to know about why Heather is taking over TikTok.

The trend of calling someone a Heather can be traced back to the song “Heather,” by Conan Gray. The song is about unrequited love. Here’s what Conan had to say about the song (via Apple Music):

“‘Heather’ is the song on the album that I always cry to. I think it's the most honest recount of my love life at the moment. It’s about a girl named Heather — I think everyone has a Heather in their life. The person that I really, really liked was in love with Heather. They were not in love with me, and because of that, I f--king hated Heather. I hated Heather with all of my heart and soul.”

“I had no reason to hate Heather. Heather is a perfectly nice girl. She's sweet and she's pure and she smells like daisies—she’s perfect, but I hate her. It's this humiliating thing to admit, but it's just true.”

The song has been wildly popular on TikTok and is also the sound used in the viral Pinterest Trend. Essentially, people post videos using the song and saying they wish they were Heather (i.e., a very nice and attractive person), and then, more often than not, people comment on the video insisting that the person is Heather — in other words, they’re totally lovable and lovely. If someone calls you a Heather, they’re essentially saying that you’re a catch, even if you might not realize it yourself.

Although Conan Gray’s song is definitely the most popular reference to Heather these days, this definitely isn’t the first time the name has gone viral on TikTok. Back in 2019, there was another Heather-related trend that involved the movie Heathers. More specifically, it involved the song “Big Fun” from Heathers: The Musical. 

For this trend, people did a specific dance and pretended to be walking down the hall of a high school,  just like the Heathers do in the musical (or the movie!) Heathers. In both the 1988 film and in the musical, the Heathers are rich, popular, beautiful girls who run the school — and who all happen to be named Heather. 

Up until Conan Gray’s song came out, calling someone a Heather might have been a way to insult them and say they’re out of touch and trying too hard. Now, though, it’s more of a reference to someone’s good qualities. We have to admit we like the nicer version a lot better!