Exodus
Journey or road out, referring to the biblical story of Exodus.
Name Census estimates that about 635 living Americans carry the first name Exodus. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Exodus today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Exodus births was 2024 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Exodus. 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 Exodus with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
635
~ 1 in 539,771 Americans
Peak year
2024
61 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,563
Tracked since 1999
Census
Exodus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 409 people with the first name Exodus, which placed it at #23,820 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
#23,820
National first-name rank
People counted
409
409 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
34.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Exodus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Exodus is Black at 34.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.8%) and White (12.0%). 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 Exodus 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 Exodus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American34.2% · 140
- Hispanic or Latino30.8% · 126
- White12.0% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.8% · 44
- Two or more races10.3% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Exodus
Exodus leans heavily male at 87.7% of total registrations, but 79 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Exodus as a male name
- Ranked #2,563 in 2024
- 52 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (52 births)
Exodus as a female name
- Ranked #10,505 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Exodus on both sides of the split. Of the 408 people counted with this name, 325 were male (79.7%) and 83 were female (20.3%).
Popularity
Exodus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Exodus from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 256 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Exodus 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 Exodus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Exodus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Exodus, while Ohio, North Carolina, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Exodus
Exodus is a name derived from the Greek word "exodos," which means "going out" or "departure." It has its roots in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the classical period around the 5th century BC.
The name Exodus is closely associated with the biblical account of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, as recounted in the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament. This pivotal event in the Judeo-Christian tradition, where Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and towards the promised land, has given the name a profound religious and historical significance.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Exodus can be found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, which dates back to the 3rd century BC. In this text, the word "exodos" is used to describe the departure of the Israelites from Egypt.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Exodus. One of the most famous was Exodus Hierosolymitanus (born circa 500 AD), a Christian monk and scholar who lived in Jerusalem during the Byzantine era. He is credited with writing various theological treatises and commentaries on the Bible.
Another historical figure with the name Exodus was Exodus Presbyter (born around 550 AD), a Christian priest and theologian who lived in the Byzantine Empire. He is known for his writings on the interpretation of the Bible and his involvement in theological debates of his time.
In the 17th century, Exodus Pelander (1602-1668) was a Swedish theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at Uppsala University. He published works on theology, philosophy, and linguistics.
During the 19th century, Exodus Kyrie (1815-1892) was a Greek scholar and philologist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek literature and language. He taught at the University of Athens and authored several books on Greek grammar and lexicography.
Another notable figure was Exodus Everett (1867-1939), an American educator and civil rights activist who advocated for equal educational opportunities for African Americans in the early 20th century. He served as the president of Talladega College in Alabama and played a crucial role in advancing educational rights for marginalized communities.
While the name Exodus has religious and historical origins, it has also been used as a symbolic representation of new beginnings, freedom, and the journey towards a better life. Its powerful connotations have made it a unique and meaningful choice for parents throughout the ages.
People
Exodus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Exodus 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
Exodus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Exodus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 635 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Exodus 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 539,771 US residents.
Is Exodus a common name?
We classify Exodus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 640 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Exodus most popular?
The single biggest year for Exodus was 2024, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Exodus is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Exodus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 409 people with the name Exodus, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,820 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 Exodus 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 Exodus?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Exodus on both sides of the split. Of the 408 people counted with this name, 325 were male (79.7%) and 83 were female (20.3%). 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 Exodus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Exodus is Black at 34.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.8%) and White (12.0%). 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 Exodus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Exodus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.2% (140 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 Exodus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Exodus a male name?
Yes, 87.7% of people registered as Exodus 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.
Is Exodus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Exodus 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 Exodus 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 people have the name Exodus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.