Horeb
A biblical name referring to the mountain where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Horeb. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Horeb today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Horeb births was 2022 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Horeb. 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 Horeb. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2022
6 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,380
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Horeb: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Horeb from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 6 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
Horeb 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 Horeb 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 Horeb
The name Horeb is of Hebrew origin and is derived from the Hebrew word "horev," which means "desert" or "desolate." It is believed to have originated in ancient times, possibly around the second millennium BCE.
Horeb is most famously associated with Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, where according to the Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The mountain is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament, including in the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy, and 1 Kings.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Horeb was Horeb ben Jehozadak, a Jewish high priest who lived during the 6th century BCE. He is mentioned in the Book of Haggai in the Hebrew Bible.
In the 1st century CE, there was a Jewish scholar named Horeb ben Nahman, who is mentioned in the Talmud as a prominent figure in the Jewish community of ancient Israel.
During the Middle Ages, a Jewish philosopher and scholar named Horeb ben Shemaiah lived in the 11th century CE. He is known for his work on the Hebrew language and his commentaries on various Jewish texts.
In the 17th century, there was a German Jewish scholar named Horeb ben Jacob, who wrote extensively on Jewish law and tradition. He was born in 1603 and died in 1668.
Another notable individual with the name Horeb was Horeb ben Joseph, a 19th-century Jewish rabbi and author from Poland. He was born in 1818 and died in 1893.
It is important to note that while the name Horeb has its roots in ancient Hebrew and biblical history, it has not been a commonly used name in modern times, at least in the Western world. However, it may still be used in certain Jewish communities or in regions with strong cultural ties to the Middle East.
People
Horeb + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Horeb as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Horeb: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Horeb?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Horeb 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Horeb a common name?
We classify Horeb as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Horeb most popular?
The single biggest year for Horeb was 2022, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Horeb is about 10 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 Horeb in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Horeb a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Horeb 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 Horeb still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Horeb 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 Horeb 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 Horeb?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.