Edom
A masculine name from Hebrew origins meaning "red".
Name Census estimates that about 78 living Americans carry the first name Edom. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Edom today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Edom births was 2014 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Edom. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Edom. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
78
~ 1 in 4,394,286 Americans
Peak year
2014
11 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,543
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Edom: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Edom from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 60 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Edom 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 Edom during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Edom
The name Edom is derived from the Hebrew word "Edom," which means "red." It is believed to have originated in the ancient region of Edom, located in modern-day southern Jordan and the Negev desert in Israel. The name is associated with the biblical figure Esau, who was also known as Edom, and his descendants, the Edomites.
In the Book of Genesis, Esau is described as being born with a reddish complexion, which is how he earned the nickname Edom. The name is first mentioned in the Bible when Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red lentil stew. The name Edom later came to refer to the territory occupied by Esau's descendants, which was known as the land of Edom.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Edom is found in the ancient Egyptian inscriptions of Ramesses III, who reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC. The inscriptions describe the Edomites as a Semitic people living in the region of Edom.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Edom. In the 2nd century BC, Edom the Younger was a Jewish historian and philosopher who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. He wrote a commentary on the Torah and other works on Jewish history and philosophy.
During the Middle Ages, Edom ben Judah was a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in Spain in the 11th century. He is known for his work on the Talmud and for his contributions to the field of Jewish ethics.
In the 16th century, Edom Sukenik was a Jewish scholar and kabbalist who lived in Safed, Palestine. He was a prominent figure in the Safed Jewish community and is known for his work on the Zohar, a central text of the Kabbalah.
In the 19th century, Edom Littmann was a German Orientalist and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Semitic languages. He is best known for his work on the Tigre language and his translations of ancient Arabic texts.
Another notable figure with the name Edom was Edom Avigdor, an Israeli politician and activist who served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) from 1949 to 1951. He was a member of the Mapai party and was involved in the struggle for Israel's independence.
People
Edom + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Edom as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Edom: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Edom?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 78 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Edom 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 4,394,286 US residents.
Is Edom a common name?
We classify Edom as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Edom most popular?
The single biggest year for Edom was 2014, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Edom is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Edom a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Edom 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.
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.