Japheth
Japheth of Hebrew origin means "he enlarges, he expands".
Name Census estimates that about 1,324 living Americans carry the first name Japheth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Japheth today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Japheth births was 2007 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Japheth. 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 Japheth with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 258,878 Americans
Peak year
2007
51 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,236
Tracked since 1970
Census
Japheth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,076 people with the first name Japheth, which placed it at #11,768 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
#11,768
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,076 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Japheth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Japheth is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Hispanic (17.8%). 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 Japheth 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 Japheth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.1% · 475
- Black or African American25.7% · 277
- Hispanic or Latino17.8% · 192
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 85
- Two or more races2.9% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 16
Popularity
Japheth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Japheth from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 361 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Japheth remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Japheth 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 Japheth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Japheths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Indiana recorded the most babies named Japheth, while Virginia, New York, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Japheth
The name Japheth is a biblical name that originates from the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew root word "yafah," which means "to be fair" or "to be beautiful." The name was first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, where Japheth was one of the three sons of Noah, along with Shem and Ham.
In the biblical account, Japheth and his brothers were responsible for repopulating the earth after the Great Flood. The name Japheth is associated with the descendants of Noah who are believed to have settled in the regions of Europe, Asia Minor, and parts of the Middle East.
The name Japheth has a rich historical significance in various cultures and religious traditions. In Greek mythology, Japheth was known as Iapetos, one of the Titans who fought against the Olympian gods. In the Islamic tradition, Japheth is referred to as Yafith, and he is mentioned in the Qur'an as one of the sons of Noah.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Japheth can be found in the Bible, where he is mentioned as the son of Noah. However, there are few historical figures with this name throughout the centuries.
One notable person named Japheth was Japheth ben Eli, a Jewish scholar and commentator who lived in the 11th century. He wrote extensively on the Talmud and Jewish law.
Another individual with the name Japheth was Japheth ben Nuri, a 10th-century Karaite Jewish scholar and exegete from Jerusalem. He was known for his work on the Hebrew Bible and his contributions to the Karaite movement.
In the 17th century, Japheth Schwarz was a German Lutheran theologian and philosopher who wrote on the harmony between reason and faith. He was born in 1592 and died in 1637.
Japheth Nouri was an Armenian merchant and diplomat who lived in the 18th century. He was born in 1709 and served as a representative of the Armenian community in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
Japheth Randolph was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first Attorney General of Virginia in the late 18th century. He was born in 1723 and died in 1799.
These are some of the notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Japheth, a name with deep roots in biblical and cultural traditions, symbolizing beauty and a connection to the descendants of Noah.
People
Japheth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Japheth as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Japheth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Japheth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,324 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Japheth 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 258,878 US residents.
Is Japheth a common name?
We classify Japheth as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,353 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Japheth most popular?
The single biggest year for Japheth was 2007, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Japheth is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Japheth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,076 people with the name Japheth, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,768 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 Japheth 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 Japheth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Japheth appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,076 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Japheth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Japheth is White at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Hispanic (17.8%). 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 Japheth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Japheth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.1% (475 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 Japheth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Japheth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Japheth 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 Japheth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Japheth 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 Japheth 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 Americans are named Japheth?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.