Boys' name · since 1912
Obediah
Since 1912, U.S. Social Security records show 226 babies named Obediah, peaking in 1954. See the year-by-year trend, decade totals, and state rankings below, sourced from federal birth data.
- #12,240 of 45,481
- all-time among boys
- #12,077 of 13,930
- 2025 SSA year
- 226
- born since 1912
- 2020s
- peak decade
226 babies have been named Obediah since 1912, making it today's #12077 boys' name.
Social Security Administration records show Obediah recorded 226 times among boys since 1912, holding rank #12077 nationally today, ahead of 13% of boys, peaking in the 2020s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1912 to 2025.
- #12,240 of 45,481 all-time among boys
- #12,077 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
- 226 born since 1912
- 2020s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Obediah ranks #12,240 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #12,077 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 226 born since 1912, peaking in the 2020s.
- #12,240 of 45,481
- all-time among boys
- #12,077 of 13,930
- 2025 SSA year
- 226
- born since 1912
- 2020s
- peak decade
Obediah's 226 recorded births place it above 73.07% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.
No state rows cleared SSA’s public reporting threshold for this name.
How Obediah compares
226 40th percentile among 13,930 names currently given to boys
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Obediah's all-time total is 39% below the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Obediah | Median boys name (Takari) | #1 boys name (Liam) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 226 | 369 | 358,536 |
| Peak-year births | 8 | 34 | 22,252 |
Obediah's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Splitting Obediah's full recorded timeline at 1977, 50% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 50% in the earlier half -- a fairly even split across the full record. Its quietest year on record was 1919, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1954 peak of 8 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.
Obediah popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1912–2025
- Peak year (1954)
- 8
- Annual births at peak, across 114 years of records
Obediah by decade
2020s is the heaviest window (31 births, 14% of the file).
2020s was Obediah's strongest decade.
31 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 14% of all-time use.
Obediah births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1910s
1910s
24 births
- 1920s
1920s
23 births
- 1930s
1930s
30 births
- 1940s 6
1940s
6 births
- 1950s
1950s
20 births
- 1970s
1970s
26 births
- 1980s 5
1980s
5 births
- 1990s
1990s
15 births
- 2000s
2000s
16 births
- 2010s
2010s
30 births
- 2020s
2020s
31 births
What this shows Peak: 2020s at 31 births (14% of all-time use).
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Obediah
Nearby Names Like Obediah
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Obediah
Compare Obediah side by side: Obediah vs Obed Obediah vs Obert Obediah vs Oberon
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Obediah
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Obediah: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1954)
Similar record span (~113 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1912–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Obediah draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.