Ephraim
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "fruitful" or "productive".
Name Census estimates that about 6,696 living Americans carry the first name Ephraim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ephraim today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ephraim births was 2017 (260 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ephraim. 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.
People living today
6.7K
~ 1 in 51,188 Americans
Peak year
2017
260 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#979
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Ephraim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ephraim 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 2,182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ephraim remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ephraim 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 Ephraim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ephraims live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Ephraim, while Oklahoma, Nevada, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 139 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ephraim
The name Ephraim has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew words "ephrah" meaning "ash heap" or "fertile" and "parah" meaning "to bear fruit." The name is thought to have originated sometime around the 2nd millennium BC.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Ephraim comes from the Bible's Old Testament. Ephraim was one of the two sons of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers in the Book of Genesis. Ephraim and his brother Manasseh were born in Egypt to Joseph's wife Asenath. The two brothers went on to become the patriarchs of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.
In the Book of Joshua, the territory allotted to the tribe of Ephraim is described as being located in the central region of ancient Palestine, roughly corresponding to modern-day Samaria. The tribe played a significant role in the history of ancient Israel, with several notable figures bearing the name Ephraim.
One such figure was Ephraim, son of Elhanan, who was one of David's mighty warriors according to 2 Samuel 23:34. Another was Ephraim, son of Micah, who is mentioned in Judges 17:1-4 as the maker of a silver idol that became the object of worship for the tribe of Dan.
During the reign of King Jeroboam I in the 10th century BC, the northern tribes of Israel broke away from the united kingdom, forming their own kingdom with its capital in Samaria. This northern kingdom was often referred to as the "House of Ephraim" or "Ephraim" due to the tribe's prominent role.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Ephraim. One was Ephraim Syrus (306-373 AD), a prominent Christian theologian and hymnographer who was born in Nisibis, Mesopotamia. Another was Ephraim of Antioch (c. 505-546 AD), a Byzantine theologian and author who served as Patriarch of Antioch from 538 to 546 AD.
In more recent times, notable figures with the name Ephraim include Ephraim Chambers (c. 1680-1740), an English writer and editor who published the influential Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830) was an American physician credited with performing one of the first successful abdominal surgeries in 1809.
People
Ephraim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ephraim 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
Ephraim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ephraim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ephraim 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 51,188 US residents.
Is Ephraim a common name?
We classify Ephraim as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,997 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ephraim most popular?
The single biggest year for Ephraim was 2017, when 260 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ephraim is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ephraim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ephraim in the SSA data are male. 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.