Nephi
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "growing gracefully" or "God's plant".
Name Census estimates that about 653 living Americans carry the first name Nephi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nephi today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nephi births was 2007 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nephi. 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
653
~ 1 in 524,892 Americans
Peak year
2007
26 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,561
Tracked since 1918
Census
Nephi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 603 people with the first name Nephi, which placed it at #18,003 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
#18,003
National first-name rank
People counted
603
603 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nephi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nephi is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.3%). 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 Nephi 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 Nephi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 334
- Hispanic or Latino17.4% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.3% · 86
- Two or more races8.1% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 21
- Black or African American1.3% · 8
Popularity
Nephi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nephi from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 160 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nephi 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 Nephi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nephis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nephi
The name Nephi is derived from the Hebrew language and can be traced back to the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the Latter-day Saint movement. It is believed to have originated around the 6th century BCE.
According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi was the fourth son of Lehi, a Hebrew prophet who led his family out of Jerusalem and across the Arabian peninsula before settling in the Americas. Nephi is portrayed as a faithful follower of God and a skilled leader, and he played a crucial role in the journey and subsequent establishment of a new civilization.
The name Nephi appears numerous times throughout the Book of Mormon, referring to both the original Nephi and his descendants, who formed a distinct group known as the Nephites. The name is associated with righteousness, leadership, and devotion to God.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nephi is found in the Book of Mormon itself, which was first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter-day Saint movement. Since then, the name has been widely used within the Latter-day Saint community, particularly among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Several notable individuals have borne the name Nephi throughout history, including:
1. Nephi (c. 600 BCE), the central figure in the Book of Mormon, known for his leadership, spiritual insights, and prophetic teachings.
2. Nephi Pratt (1828-1900), an early member of the Latter-day Saint movement and a pioneer who participated in the Mormon exodus to Utah.
3. Nephi Anderson (1865-1923), a Latter-day Saint author and educator who wrote several books, including the novel "Added Upon."
4. Nephi Jensen (1876-1957), a Latter-day Saint leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and was involved in the establishment of the Church's welfare program.
5. Nephi Jeffs (1937-2019), a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) and a prominent figure in the polygamous community.
While the name Nephi has its roots in the Book of Mormon and is most commonly used within the Latter-day Saint community, it has also been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and cultures, particularly those influenced by or interested in the teachings of the Latter-day Saint movement.
People
Nephi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nephi 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
Nephi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nephi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 653 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nephi 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 524,892 US residents.
Is Nephi a common name?
We classify Nephi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 723 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nephi most popular?
The single biggest year for Nephi was 2007, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nephi is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nephi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 603 people with the name Nephi, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,003 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 Nephi 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 Nephi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nephi appears almost entirely male. Of the 595 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Nephi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nephi is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.3%). 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 Nephi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nephi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (334 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 Nephi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nephi a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nephi 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 Nephi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nephi 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 Nephi 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 common is the name Nephi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.