Since the early 1990s, the annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square has featured a confetti drop at midnight. The man behind the confetti? Treb Heining.
A self-described “balloon guy,” Treb has also designed balloon décor for major events such as the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, and the Olympics.
Treb was born in 1954 to Bert and Joan Heining of California. His first name is simply his father’s name, spelled backwards.
The curious name Treb has never popped up in the U.S. baby name data, likely because most of the people called “Treb” are actually named Trebor, the reverse of Robert. More than 500 baby boys named Trebor are accounted for in the data.
Many of these Trebors were no doubt named after various Roberts. Dozens of the Trebors I found in the records, for instance, had fathers named Robert. Two examples…
- Trebor McEachern, b. 1900 in Texas to Robert and Alice McEachern
- Trebor Tichenor, b. 1940 in Missouri to Robert and Letitia Tichenor
Similarly, dozens of the females I found named Treba had fathers with -bert names (like Robert, Albert, Elbert, and Herbert). Two more examples…
- Treba McClure, b. 1932 in Oklahoma to Herbert and Ethel McClure
- Treba Reynolds, b. 1948 in California to Robert and Frances Reynolds
What are your thoughts on the names Treb, Trebor, and Treba?
Sources:
- Blessen, Karen. “Diary of a confetti engineer.” Dallas Morning News 16 Jan. 2000.
- “Meet the man who is pumping air back into the RNC balloon drop.” PBS News 18 Jul. 2024.
- The Conclusion to A Disneyland Balloon Boy, The Treb Heining Story Part III – Magic Made Today
- Treb Nathan Heining – California Birth Index
Image: Screenshot of a 2025 NBC New York news video
