Jeremyah
Masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "exalted of the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 958 living Americans carry the first name Jeremyah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeremyah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeremyah births was 2008 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeremyah. 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
958
~ 1 in 357,781 Americans
Peak year
2008
68 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,529
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jeremyah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 656 people with the first name Jeremyah, which placed it at #16,994 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
#16,994
National first-name rank
People counted
656
656 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeremyah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeremyah is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and White (19.2%). 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 Jeremyah 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 Jeremyah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.2% · 264
- Hispanic or Latino26.8% · 176
- White19.2% · 126
- Two or more races11.9% · 78
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
Popularity
Jeremyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeremyah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 441 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeremyah 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 Jeremyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeremyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jeremyah, while North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeremyah
The given name Jeremyah has its origins rooted deeply in the ancient Hebrew language and culture. It is a variation of the biblical name Jeremiah, derived from the Hebrew words "yerem" meaning "to exalt" or "to lift up," and "Yahweh," the name of the God of Israel. Jeremiah was a prominent prophet in the Old Testament, known for his unwavering faith and his bold proclamations against the sinful ways of the people of Judah.
The name Jeremyah first appeared in religious texts and historical records during the 7th century BCE, when the prophet Jeremiah lived and ministered in the ancient Kingdom of Judah. His prophecies and lamentations are recorded in the Book of Jeremiah, a significant portion of the Hebrew Bible. Jeremiah's name became synonymous with courage, resilience, and unwavering devotion to God's word.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jeremyah was Jeremiah ben Hilkiah, the biblical prophet himself, who lived from approximately 650-570 BCE. He was a pivotal figure in the history of ancient Israel and is revered as a saint in many Christian traditions. Another notable figure was Jeremiah of Libnah, a Jewish scholar and author who lived in the 9th century CE and wrote extensively on the Talmud.
Throughout history, several prominent individuals have borne the name Jeremyah or its variations. Jeremiah Horrocks (1619-1641) was an English astronomer known for his observations of the transit of Venus across the sun in 1639. Jeremiah Denton (1924-2014) was a United States Navy rear admiral and Vietnam War prisoner of war, famous for his defiant blinks spelling out "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" during a televised propaganda interview in 1966.
Jeremiah Townley Chase (1835-1900) was an American educator and author who served as the president of Haverford College in Pennsylvania. Jeremiah O'Callaghan (1855-1940) was an Irish journalist and politician who played a significant role in the Irish Home Rule movement. Jeremiah Lockwood (1938-2018) was an American musician and composer, renowned for his expertise in traditional Jewish music and his promotion of the cantorial arts.
While these are just a few examples, the name Jeremyah has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and eras, each leaving their mark on history through their contributions and achievements. The name remains a testament to the enduring legacy of the biblical prophet and the ideals of courage, faith, and unwavering conviction that he embodied.
People
Jeremyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeremyah 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
Jeremyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeremyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 958 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeremyah 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 357,781 US residents.
Is Jeremyah a common name?
We classify Jeremyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 968 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeremyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeremyah was 2008, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeremyah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeremyah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 656 people with the name Jeremyah, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,994 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 Jeremyah 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 Jeremyah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeremyah leans strongly male. 651 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Jeremyah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeremyah is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.8%) and White (19.2%). 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 Jeremyah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jeremyah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.2% (264 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 Jeremyah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeremyah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeremyah 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 Jeremyah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeremyah 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 Jeremyah 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 share the name Jeremyah?
You can see how many people share the name Jeremyah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.