Jediah
Jedidiah is a male name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved of the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 862 living Americans carry the first name Jediah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jediah today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jediah births was 2017 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jediah. 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 Jediah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
862
~ 1 in 397,627 Americans
Peak year
2017
52 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,239
Tracked since 1974
Census
Jediah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 685 people with the first name Jediah, which placed it at #16,462 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
#16,462
National first-name rank
People counted
685
685 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jediah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jediah is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.9%) and Hispanic (18.1%). 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 Jediah 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 Jediah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.4% · 277
- Black or African American26.9% · 184
- Hispanic or Latino18.1% · 124
- Two or more races9.2% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
Popularity
Jediah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jediah 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 357 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jediah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jediah 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 Jediah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jediahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Jediah, while Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jediah
The given name Jediah has its origins rooted in the Hebrew language. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name Jedidiah, which translates to "beloved of Yahweh" or "beloved of God." The name can be traced back to ancient Hebrew scriptures, specifically in the Old Testament.
The name Jedidiah first appeared in the Bible, where it was given to King Solomon by the prophet Nathan, as a symbolic name from God. This event is recorded in the Second Book of Samuel (12:25). The name Jedidiah was bestowed upon Solomon as a sign of God's favor and love for him.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Jediah can be found in historical records and documents from the 17th century. One notable individual who bore this name was Jediah Morse (1761-1826), an American minister, geographer, and author, known for his influential works on geography and his efforts in promoting education.
Another prominent figure named Jediah was Jediah Hinkley (1753-1811), an American politician and judge from Massachusetts. He served as a member of the Massachusetts General Court and as a judge on the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas.
In the 19th century, Jediah Huntington (1743-1818) was a prominent American soldier and politician. He served as a brigadier general during the American Revolutionary War and later as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Another historical figure with the name Jediah was Jediah Prescott (1720-1778), an American physician and patriot during the American Revolutionary War. He was known for his contributions to the medical field and his service as a military surgeon.
Jediah Chaplin (1677-1745) was an English minister and educator who served as the rector of Staveley, Derbyshire, and as the headmaster of the prestigious Doncaster Grammar School in Yorkshire.
While the name Jediah has biblical roots and historical references, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history. However, its unique and meaningful origin from the Hebrew language and its connection to the biblical figure of King Solomon have contributed to its enduring presence and usage over the centuries.
People
Jediah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jediah 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
Jediah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jediah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 862 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jediah 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 397,627 US residents.
Is Jediah a common name?
We classify Jediah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 874 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jediah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jediah was 2017, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jediah is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jediah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 685 people with the name Jediah, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,462 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 Jediah 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 Jediah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jediah leans strongly male. 640 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 47 female bearers (6.8%). 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 Jediah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jediah is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.9%) and Hispanic (18.1%). 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 Jediah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jediah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.4% (277 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 Jediah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jediah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jediah 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 Jediah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jediah 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 Jediah 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 people have Jediah as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Jediah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.