Nechemia
A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "comforted by God".
Name Census estimates that about 145 living Americans carry the first name Nechemia. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nechemia today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nechemia births was 2019 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nechemia. 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
145
~ 1 in 2,363,823 Americans
Peak year
2019
16 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,566
Tracked since 1988
Census
Nechemia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 177 people with the first name Nechemia, which placed it at #41,393 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
#41,393
National first-name rank
People counted
177
177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nechemia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nechemia is White at 96.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Nechemia 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 Nechemia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.0% · 170
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 3
- Black or African American1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Nechemia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nechemia from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 49 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
Nechemia 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 Nechemia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nechemias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nechemia
The name Nechemia originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. It is a masculine name derived from the Hebrew word "nachamu," which means "to comfort" or "to console." The name was popular among the Israelites in biblical times.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Nechemia can be found in the Book of Nehemiah, a book of the Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah was a prominent figure in the Hebrew scriptures, serving as the governor of the Persian province of Judah in the 5th century BCE. His story is documented in the Book of Nehemiah, where he led the effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nechemia. One of the earliest recorded was Nechemia ben Hushiel (born around 1000 CE), a prominent Jewish scholar and grammarian who lived in Kairouan, Tunisia. His work on Hebrew grammar and linguistics was highly influential during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain.
Another significant figure was Nechemia Hayyun (1655-1730), a prominent rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher from Aleppo, Syria. He authored several works on Jewish mysticism and played a crucial role in the development of the Jewish community in Aleppo.
In more recent times, Nechemia Meuman (1880-1953) was an influential Zionist leader and one of the founding members of the World Zionist Organization. He dedicated his life to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and was instrumental in the early development of the Zionist movement.
Nechemia Tsameret (1924-2014) was an Israeli author and journalist who documented the history of the Jewish communities in Arab lands. His works shed light on the experiences of Middle Eastern Jews and their contributions to the cultural tapestry of the region.
Another notable figure was Nechemia Argov (1919-1995), an Israeli diplomat who served as the ambassador to the United Kingdom. He survived an assassination attempt by Palestinian militants in 1982, which led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon later that year.
These are just a few examples of prominent individuals who have carried the name Nechemia throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted significance in the Hebrew tradition and its enduring presence across various cultures and eras.
People
Nechemia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nechemia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nechemia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nechemia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nechemia 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 2,363,823 US residents.
Is Nechemia a common name?
We classify Nechemia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 147 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nechemia most popular?
The single biggest year for Nechemia was 2019, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nechemia is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nechemia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 177 people with the name Nechemia, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,393 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 Nechemia 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 Nechemia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nechemia leans strongly male. 172 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.3%). 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 Nechemia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nechemia is White at 96.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Nechemia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nechemia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (170 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 Nechemia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nechemia a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nechemia 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 Nechemia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nechemia 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 Nechemia 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 are named Nechemia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.