Nehemiah
Nehemiah was given to 743 boys in 2025, #429 among boys’ names; 22,439 Americans have been recorded with it since 1886 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 21,600 Americans named Nehemiah and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 13 years old and half are between 7 and 19.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nehemiah by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nehemiah mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Nehemiah is “a male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the sense “consolation of Yahweh” (נְחֶמְיָה).
From Hebrew נְחֶמְיָה (“consolation of Yahweh”).
/ˌniː(h)əˈmaɪə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nehemiah?
#429 among boys’ names, 2025
Nehemiah fell from #362 in 2015 to #429 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.47 to 0.43 per 1,000.
969 babies in 2010, the peak
Nehemiah peaked in 2010, when 969 babies were given it (933 boys, #336 among boys’ names). The 768 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 79% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 743 | #429 | 0.43 |
| 2024 | 742 | #426 | 0.43 |
| 2023 | 725 | #430 | 0.42 |
| 2022 | 697 | #447 | 0.40 |
| 2021 | 765 | #406 | 0.44 |
| 2020 | 820 | #377 | 0.48 |
| 2019 | 863 | #370 | 0.48 |
| 2018 | 803 | #396 | 0.44 |
| 2017 | 895 | #370 | 0.48 |
| 2016 | 930 | #358 | 0.49 |
Every recorded year (115)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 909 | #362 | 0.47 |
| 2014 | 889 | #360 | 0.46 |
| 2013 | 931 | #343 | 0.49 |
| 2012 | 906 | #342 | 0.48 |
| 2011 | 867 | #348 | 0.46 |
| 2010 | 933 | #336 | 0.49 |
| 2009 | 853 | #360 | 0.43 |
| 2008 | 871 | #358 | 0.43 |
| 2007 | 876 | #362 | 0.42 |
| 2006 | 826 | #360 | 0.40 |
| 2005 | 545 | #466 | 0.27 |
| 2004 | 385 | #580 | 0.19 |
| 2003 | 355 | #600 | 0.18 |
| 2002 | 288 | #654 | 0.15 |
| 2001 | 263 | #686 | 0.14 |
| 2000 | 254 | #695 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 174 | #869 | 0.09 |
| 1998 | 179 | #826 | 0.09 |
| 1997 | 126 | #1,013 | 0.07 |
| 1996 | 122 | #1,020 | 0.06 |
| 1995 | 113 | #1,056 | 0.06 |
| 1994 | 90 | #1,213 | 0.05 |
| 1993 | 80 | #1,270 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 94 | #1,136 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 88 | #1,181 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 71 | #1,319 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 65 | #1,363 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 57 | #1,380 | 0.03 |
| 1987 | 76 | #1,104 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 73 | #1,096 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 75 | #1,075 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 74 | #1,038 | 0.04 |
| 1983 | 74 | #1,033 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 81 | #1,012 | 0.04 |
| 1981 | 71 | #1,082 | 0.04 |
| 1980 | 59 | #1,198 | 0.03 |
| 1979 | 62 | #1,150 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 20 | #2,346 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 25 | #1,986 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 27 | #1,859 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 25 | #1,925 | 0.02 |
| 1974 | 22 | #2,031 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 17 | #2,376 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 6 | #4,798 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 15 | #2,517 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 16 | #2,375 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 12 | #2,644 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 10 | #2,854 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 16 | #2,010 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 10 | #2,737 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 6 | #3,808 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 13 | #2,382 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 23 | #1,684 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 12 | #2,469 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 16 | #2,119 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 14 | #2,281 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 7 | #3,496 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 20 | #1,821 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 6 | #3,846 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 22 | #1,705 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 17 | #1,951 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 11 | #2,557 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 23 | #1,620 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 16 | #1,988 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 13 | #2,218 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 11 | #2,398 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 18 | #1,802 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 10 | #2,614 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 9 | #2,646 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 9 | #2,523 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 16 | #1,795 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 9 | #2,680 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 14 | #2,022 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 9 | #2,601 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 9 | #2,620 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 16 | #1,771 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 16 | #1,794 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 15 | #1,891 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 7 | #3,071 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,006 | under 0.01 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,087 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 15 | #1,885 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 20 | #1,632 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 10 | #2,595 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 11 | #2,559 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,165 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 10 | #2,787 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 13 | #2,377 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 16 | #2,049 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 20 | #1,782 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 22 | #1,711 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 22 | #1,681 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 21 | #1,741 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 18 | #1,959 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 26 | #1,488 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 22 | #1,610 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 12 | #2,489 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,663 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,358 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,259 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,148 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,119 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,838 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,491 | 0.03 |
| 1886 | 7 | #817 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Nehemiah a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 22,439 Americans recorded as Nehemiah, 3% are girls and 97% boys. In 2025 it went to 25 girls and 743 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Nehemiah: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nehemiah, and how old are they?
21,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 22,439 Americans ever recorded as Nehemiah. The median Nehemiah alive today is 13 years old; half are between 7 and 19.
The 2020 Census counted 13,359 people named Nehemiah (392 women and girls, 12,967 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 17,345 born in the U.S. The Census count is 23% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 41 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 176 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 313 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,240 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,890 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 11,000 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Nehemiah born?
The states with the most babies named Nehemiah are Texas, California and Florida, with 34% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 114 | #330 | 1.0× |
| California | 74 | #438 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 54 | #365 | 1.2× |
| Georgia | 44 | #283 | 1.4× |
| North Carolina | 32 | #360 | 1.2× |
| Virginia | 32 | #274 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 27 | #406 | 0.8× |
| New York | 25 | #612 | 0.6× |
| Washington | 24 | #317 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 22 | #473 | 0.7× |
Where Nehemiah is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Nehemiah is most over-represented in New Mexico: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Nehemiah with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 23,171 babies since 1880, Nehemiah is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 768 of their 784 babies (98%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Nehemiah
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Nehemiah and names like it
- Compare Nehemiah and NemiahBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sNehemiah peaked in 2010.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nehemiah since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Nehemiah: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2010The year the most babies were named Nehemiah.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Nehemiah alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with NMost given first.