Mesiah
A Hebrew name derived from the Hebrew word "mashiah," meaning "anointed one."
Name Census estimates that about 479 living Americans carry the first name Mesiah. It is a predominantly male name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Mesiah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mesiah births was 2017 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mesiah. 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
479
~ 1 in 715,562 Americans
Peak year
2017
40 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,641
Tracked since 1999
Census
Mesiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 383 people with the first name Mesiah, which placed it at #24,935 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
#24,935
National first-name rank
People counted
383
383 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mesiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mesiah is Black at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Mesiah 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 Mesiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.7% · 263
- Hispanic or Latino17.5% · 67
- Two or more races7.3% · 28
- White3.9% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Mesiah
Mesiah leans heavily male at 99.0% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mesiah as a male name
- Ranked #4,641 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (40 births)
Mesiah as a female name
- Ranked #19,539 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2007 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mesiah leans strongly male. 341 people counted with this name were male (88.6%), compared with 44 female bearers (11.4%).
Popularity
Mesiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mesiah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 234 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mesiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mesiah 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 Mesiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mesiahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mesiah, while Georgia, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mesiah
The name Mesiah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, stemming from the word "mashiah," which means "anointed one." This term is closely tied to the concept of the Messiah in Abrahamic religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity.
In ancient Hebrew scriptures, the term "mashiah" was used to refer to a divinely appointed king or leader who was anointed with oil as a symbolic gesture. This practice dates back to the biblical era, where kings and prophets were anointed as a sign of their sacred calling and authority.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mesiah can be found in the Bible, specifically in the Old Testament. The Book of Daniel mentions the "Anointed One" (Messiah) in reference to a future leader who would usher in a time of restoration and redemption.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mesiah. One of the most prominent was Mesiah ben Joseph, a Jewish scholar from the 16th century who wrote extensively on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. He was born in Safed, Palestine, in 1505 and died in 1575.
Another noteworthy individual was Mesiah ben Judah, a Moroccan rabbi and scholar who lived in the 18th century. He was born in Fez in 1720 and is remembered for his contributions to Jewish law and commentary on the Talmud.
In the realm of literature, Mesiah ben Jacob was a notable figure from the 13th century. Born in Spain in 1240, he was a renowned poet and author who wrote extensively in Hebrew and Arabic.
The name Mesiah also has a presence in religious history. Mesiah ben David was a Jewish Hasidic rabbi who lived in the late 18th century and is regarded as a key figure in the early Hasidic movement in Eastern Europe.
Lastly, Mesiah ben Elijah was a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher from the 16th century. Born in Italy in 1540, he wrote extensively on Jewish law, philosophy, and mysticism, leaving a lasting impact on the intellectual discourse of his time.
People
Mesiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mesiah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mesiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mesiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 479 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mesiah 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 715,562 US residents.
Is Mesiah a common name?
We classify Mesiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 483 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mesiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Mesiah was 2017, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mesiah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mesiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 383 people with the name Mesiah, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,935 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 Mesiah 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 Mesiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mesiah leans strongly male. 341 people counted with this name were male (88.6%), compared with 44 female bearers (11.4%). 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 Mesiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mesiah is Black at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Mesiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mesiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.7% (263 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 Mesiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mesiah a male name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Mesiah 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 Mesiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mesiah 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 Mesiah 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 Mesiah?
Find out how many Americans are named Mesiah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.