Gedaliah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is great".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Gedaliah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gedaliah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gedaliah births was 2010 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gedaliah. 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 Gedaliah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
2010
5 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,784
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Gedaliah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Gedaliah 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 Gedaliah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 15 | 0 | 15 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Gedaliah
The name Gedaliah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "gadal" meaning "to grow" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the name of the Israelite God, Yahweh. The name can therefore be interpreted as meaning "Yahweh is great" or "God has grown great."
Gedaliah is a prominent name found in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. It is the name of a governor appointed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar to rule over the remnant of Judah after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The biblical figure Gedaliah is mentioned in the books of Jeremiah, 2 Kings, and 1 Chronicles.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Gedaliah can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. Gedaliah ben Ahikam, the biblical governor, is discussed in various Talmudic passages. Another early reference is in the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible dating back to the 3rd century BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Gedaliah. One of the most famous is Gedaliah ibn Yahya (11th century CE), a Jewish philosopher and grammarian from Spain. He wrote extensively on Hebrew grammar and was an influential figure in the field of linguistics.
Another prominent Gedaliah was Gedaliah Cordovero (1523-1570), a renowned Jewish scholar and one of the most influential Kabbalists of the 16th century. He is best known for his work "Pardes Rimonim," which explored the mystical aspects of Judaism.
In the 18th century, Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (1681-1746), a Yemenite Jewish poet and scholar, gained recognition for his poetic works and contributions to the study of Jewish law.
Gedaliah Lipkin (1756-1828), a Polish-Jewish Talmudist and scholar, is also noteworthy for his work in Talmudic studies and his role in reviving Jewish education in Eastern Europe.
Lastly, Gedaliah Alon (1901-1950) was an Israeli historian and professor who made significant contributions to the field of Jewish history, particularly in the areas of the Second Temple period and the Talmudic era.
People
Gedaliah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gedaliah 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
Gedaliah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gedaliah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gedaliah 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Gedaliah a common name?
We classify Gedaliah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gedaliah most popular?
The single biggest year for Gedaliah was 2010, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gedaliah is about 13 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 Gedaliah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gedaliah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gedaliah 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 Gedaliah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gedaliah 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 Gedaliah 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 people have Gedaliah as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Gedaliah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.