Obadiah
Obadiah was given to 104 boys in 2025, #1,630 among boys’ names; 2,521 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,340 Americans named Obadiah and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 12 years old and half are between 6 and 25.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Obadiah by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Obadiah mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Obadiah is “a male given name from Hebrew, of biblical origin.” Its etymology gives the senses “servant of Yahweh” (עובדיה) and “servant of God” (اللّٰه).
From Hebrew עובדיה (Ovadya, “servant of Yahweh”); comparable to Arabic عبد اللّٰه (ʕabd-allah, “servant of God”).
/ˌoʊbəˈdaɪə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Obadiah?
#1,630 among boys’ names, 2025
Obadiah rose from #1,689 in 2015 to #1,630 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 48.5 to 60.9 per million.
131 babies in 2024, the peak
Obadiah peaked in 2024, when 131 boys were given it, #1,414 among boys’ names. The 104 births of 2025 are 79% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 104 | #1,630 | 60.9 |
| 2024 | 131 | #1,414 | 76.0 |
| 2023 | 113 | #1,554 | 66.1 |
| 2022 | 124 | #1,464 | 71.0 |
| 2021 | 99 | #1,676 | 56.6 |
| 2020 | 105 | #1,566 | 60.8 |
| 2019 | 96 | #1,673 | 53.5 |
| 2018 | 97 | #1,661 | 53.4 |
| 2017 | 97 | #1,639 | 52.4 |
| 2016 | 107 | #1,553 | 56.4 |
Every recorded year (86)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 93 | #1,689 | 48.5 |
| 2014 | 72 | #1,992 | 37.5 |
| 2013 | 69 | #2,004 | 36.5 |
| 2012 | 69 | #2,026 | 36.4 |
| 2011 | 54 | #2,366 | 28.4 |
| 2010 | 56 | #2,312 | 29.2 |
| 2009 | 53 | #2,437 | 26.7 |
| 2008 | 33 | #3,401 | 16.2 |
| 2007 | 37 | #3,117 | 17.8 |
| 2006 | 41 | #2,811 | 19.9 |
| 2005 | 36 | #2,940 | 18.0 |
| 2004 | 26 | #3,604 | 13.1 |
| 2003 | 30 | #3,168 | 15.2 |
| 2002 | 29 | #3,160 | 14.9 |
| 2001 | 26 | #3,381 | 13.4 |
| 2000 | 35 | #2,657 | 17.8 |
| 1999 | 20 | #3,792 | 10.4 |
| 1998 | 25 | #3,158 | 13.1 |
| 1997 | 14 | #4,609 | 7.4 |
| 1996 | 23 | #3,174 | 12.1 |
| 1995 | 21 | #3,269 | 11.0 |
| 1994 | 17 | #3,850 | 8.8 |
| 1993 | 15 | #4,166 | 7.6 |
| 1992 | 19 | #3,415 | 9.5 |
| 1991 | 18 | #3,415 | 8.9 |
| 1990 | 14 | #4,117 | 6.8 |
| 1989 | 24 | #2,661 | 12.0 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,647 | 7.3 |
| 1987 | 15 | #3,293 | 8.0 |
| 1986 | 15 | #3,229 | 8.1 |
| 1985 | 10 | #4,252 | 5.4 |
| 1984 | 11 | #3,858 | 6.1 |
| 1983 | 16 | #2,877 | 8.9 |
| 1982 | 19 | #2,573 | 10.5 |
| 1981 | 21 | #2,389 | 11.7 |
| 1980 | 21 | #2,423 | 11.8 |
| 1979 | 24 | #2,139 | 13.9 |
| 1978 | 21 | #2,256 | 12.8 |
| 1977 | 12 | #3,324 | 7.3 |
| 1976 | 12 | #3,206 | 7.6 |
| 1975 | 16 | #2,606 | 10.2 |
| 1974 | 22 | #2,032 | 14.0 |
| 1973 | 12 | #2,972 | 7.7 |
| 1972 | 14 | #2,626 | 8.6 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,578 | 5.1 |
| 1970 | 10 | #3,211 | 5.4 |
| 1969 | 5 | #4,832 | 2.8 |
| 1966 | 5 | #4,362 | 2.8 |
| 1960 | 7 | #3,558 | 3.3 |
| 1958 | 5 | #4,347 | 2.4 |
| 1957 | 5 | #4,383 | 2.3 |
| 1955 | 6 | #3,773 | 2.9 |
| 1954 | 5 | #4,205 | 2.5 |
| 1953 | 8 | #3,074 | 4.1 |
| 1950 | 6 | #3,583 | 3.4 |
| 1949 | 9 | #2,746 | 5.1 |
| 1948 | 5 | #4,037 | 2.8 |
| 1945 | 5 | #3,642 | 3.7 |
| 1943 | 5 | #3,905 | 3.5 |
| 1941 | 5 | #3,864 | 4.1 |
| 1939 | 6 | #3,378 | 5.4 |
| 1938 | 6 | #3,420 | 5.4 |
| 1936 | 5 | #3,919 | 4.8 |
| 1935 | 6 | #3,540 | 5.8 |
| 1934 | 5 | #4,054 | 4.8 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,006 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,281 | 6.7 |
| 1929 | 7 | #3,455 | 6.5 |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,567 | 4.5 |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,072 | 8.1 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,186 | 7.9 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,378 | 7.3 |
| 1922 | 7 | #3,771 | 6.4 |
| 1920 | 8 | #3,409 | 7.5 |
| 1919 | 6 | #4,045 | 6.1 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,610 | 7.6 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Obadiah a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Obadiah has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 86 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Obadiah: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Obadiah, and how old are they?
2,340 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 93% of the 2,521 Americans ever recorded as Obadiah. The median Obadiah alive today is 12 years old; half are between 6 and 25.
The 2020 Census counted 1,523 people named Obadiah (17 women and girls, 1,506 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,727 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% 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 | 12 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 36 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 165 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 259 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 575 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,300 |
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 Obadiah born?
The states with the most babies named Obadiah are Texas, Ohio and Indiana, with 58% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Indiana is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 14 | #1,397 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 9 | #920 | 0.3× |
| Indiana | 7 | #824 | 0.4× |
| California | 6 | #2,390 | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 6 | #1,076 | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,492 | 0.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | #1,385 | 0.1× |
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 Obadiah 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 2,747 babies since 1880, Obadiah is the most given (92% of them). In 2025 it was given to 104 of their 109 babies (95%), 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 Obadiah
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 Obadiah and names like it
- Compare Obadiah and ObediahBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sObadiah peaked in 2024.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Obadiah since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Obadiah: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2024The year the most babies were named Obadiah.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Obadiah alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with OMost given first.