Fineas
An English name derived from Phineas, of Hebrew origin meaning "serpent mouth" or "bronze mouth".
Name Census estimates that about 54 living Americans carry the first name Fineas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fineas today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fineas births was 2007 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fineas. 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 Fineas with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fineas. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
54
~ 1 in 6,347,303 Americans
Peak year
2007
8 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,666
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Fineas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fineas from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 25 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fineas 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 Fineas 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 Fineas
The name Fineas is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Phinehas, which means "mouth of brass" or "brazen mouth." It is derived from the Hebrew words "peh" meaning "mouth" and "nehoshet" meaning "brass" or "bronze." The name has its origins in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a grandson of Aaron, the brother of Moses.
In the Book of Numbers, Phinehas is celebrated for his zealous act of killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman who were engaging in idolatry and sexual immorality. This act was seen as a demonstration of his unwavering devotion to God and his willingness to uphold the laws and values of the Israelite community. As a result, God rewarded Phinehas and his descendants with a covenant of perpetual priesthood.
The name Phinehas, and its variant spelling Fineas, has been used throughout history by various religious and cultural communities. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to the 3rd century BCE. The scrolls mention a man named Phinehas ben Clusoth, who was a member of the Jewish community in Qumran.
In the New Testament, the name Phinehas is mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews as an example of a righteous man whose faith was rewarded by God. This further solidified the name's association with religious devotion and moral uprightness.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Fineas or its variants:
1. Phinehas ben Jair (c. 130 BCE - 70 BCE), a Jewish scholar and sage who lived during the Hasmonean period in ancient Judea.
2. Phinehas ben Huna (c. 640 - 700 CE), a prominent Babylonian Jewish scholar and gaon (head) of the Talmudic academy in Sura, Babylonia.
3. Fineas Bland (1642 - 1670), an English mathematician and inventor who contributed to the development of early calculating machines.
4. Phinehas Primus (1590 - 1663), a Dutch Remonstrant theologian and one of the leading figures in the Arminian movement within Protestantism.
5. Phinehas Qimhi (c. 1230 - 1295), a Jewish traveler, grammarian, and exegete from Spain, known for his travels through Europe and the Middle East.
The name Fineas, with its rich historical and religious significance, has been a part of various cultures and communities throughout the ages, symbolizing devotion, moral integrity, and a connection to the ancient traditions of the Hebrew Bible.
People
Fineas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fineas as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fineas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fineas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 54 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fineas 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 6,347,303 US residents.
Is Fineas a common name?
We classify Fineas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 54 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fineas most popular?
The single biggest year for Fineas was 2007, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fineas is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Fineas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fineas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fineas 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 Fineas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fineas 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 Fineas 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Fineas?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.