Galileah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin signifying "circle of village" or "rolling wave".
Name Census estimates that about 254 living Americans carry the first name Galileah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Galileah today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Galileah births was 2015 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Galileah. 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
254
~ 1 in 1,349,427 Americans
Peak year
2015
29 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,008
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Galileah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Galileah 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 145 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Galileah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Galileah 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 Galileah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Galileahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Galileah
The name Galileah is derived from the Hebrew word "Galil," which means "district" or "region." It is believed to have originated in the region of Galilee, located in modern-day northern Israel and southern Lebanon. The name has been recorded as early as the 5th century BCE, during the period of the Persian Empire.
In the Bible, Galilee is mentioned numerous times as the region where Jesus Christ grew up and performed many of his teachings and miracles. The name Galileah was likely used as a reference to this holy land or as a way to pay homage to the birthplace of Christianity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Galileah is found in the writings of the 5th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea. He mentions a woman named Galileah who was a prominent figure in the court of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (482-565 CE).
Another notable figure in history with the name Galileah was a 9th-century abbess who founded the Abbey of Santa Maria in Galilea, located in the Italian region of Umbria. This abbey played a significant role in the religious and cultural life of the region during the Middle Ages.
In the 12th century, a woman named Galileah de Lusignan was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades. She was the daughter of Amalric I, King of Jerusalem, and was known for her involvement in the political affairs of the kingdom.
During the Renaissance period, a woman named Galileah Galilei (1564-1642) was the daughter of the famous Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, and philosopher Galileo Galilei. She played an important role in preserving her father's legacy and defending his scientific theories against the Catholic Church.
In more recent history, Galileah Zeidler (1886-1976) was a German-American social worker and activist who dedicated her life to improving the living conditions of immigrants and advocating for workers' rights in the United States.
People
Galileah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Galileah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Galileah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Galileah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Galileah 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 1,349,427 US residents.
Is Galileah a common name?
We classify Galileah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 256 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Galileah most popular?
The single biggest year for Galileah was 2015, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Galileah is about 9 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 Galileah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Galileah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Galileah 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 Galileah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Galileah 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 Galileah 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 many Americans are named Galileah?
Find out how many people have the name Galileah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.