Adah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "ornament" or "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 2,007 living Americans carry the first name Adah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adah today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adah births was 2020 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Adah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 170,779 Americans
Peak year
2020
121 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,049
Tracked since 1880
Census
Adah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,696 people with the first name Adah, which placed it at #8,542 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,542
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adah is White at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.0% · 1,136
- Black or African American11.0% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 184
- Two or more races6.9% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 61
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 12
Popularity
Adah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 827 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Texas, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Adah, while Maryland, Kentucky, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adah
The name Adah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Adah, which means "ornament" or "beauty." It is one of the oldest recorded female names in history, appearing in the Book of Genesis as the name of one of the wives of Lamech, a descendant of Cain.
In the biblical account, Adah is mentioned alongside her sister-wife Zillah, and their names are often interpreted as representing the two aspects of womanhood – beauty and grace. The name Adah is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition and has been used by Jewish and Christian communities throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Adah outside of the biblical context is from the 5th century BCE, when a woman named Adah was mentioned in an ancient Aramaic inscription found in Egypt. This suggests that the name was already in use among the Semitic peoples of the ancient Near East.
During the Middle Ages, the name Adah gained popularity among European Christians, particularly in England and France. It was often spelled as "Ada" or "Adda," and several notable historical figures bore this name.
One of the most famous Adahs in history was Adah Menken (1835-1868), an American actress, painter, and poet who was known for her daring performances and scandalous personal life. She was a trailblazer for women's rights and is often credited as one of the first actresses to appear nude on stage.
Another notable Adah was Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868), a Jewish-American actress and poet who was celebrated for her beauty and talent. She was a contemporary of Adah Menken and is sometimes confused with her, but they were two distinct individuals.
In the field of literature, Adah Isaacs Menken is remembered for her poem "Infelicia," which was praised by critics and fellow writers of her time, including Walt Whitman.
Adah Virginia Hendrix (1859-1920) was an American educator and women's rights activist who worked tirelessly to promote education and equal opportunities for women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Adah Isaacs Menken (1835-1868), mentioned earlier, was also a notable figure in the women's rights movement and is recognized for her efforts to challenge societal norms and fight for women's equality.
While the name Adah has waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, it continues to be used today, carrying with it a rich history and a connection to the ancient roots of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
People
Adah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,007 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 170,779 US residents.
Is Adah a common name?
We classify Adah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,010 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adah most popular?
The single biggest year for Adah was 2020, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adah is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,696 people with the name Adah, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,542 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adah leans strongly female. 1,662 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 29 male bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adah is White at 67.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Adah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.0% (1,136 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Adah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.