Nesiah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "journey" or "travels".
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Nesiah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Nesiah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nesiah births was 2008 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nesiah. 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 Nesiah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
2008
13 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,562
Tracked since 1999
Gender
Gender distribution for Nesiah
Nesiah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 118 total registrations, 30 (25.4%) were male and 88 (74.6%) were female.
Nesiah as a male name
- Ranked #10,562 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (7 births)
Nesiah as a female name
- Ranked #16,934 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (11 births)
Popularity
Nesiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nesiah 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 57 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nesiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nesiah 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 Nesiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nesiah
The name Nesiah has its origins in ancient Hebrew and is believed to have been derived from the word "nasi," which means "prince" or "leader." This name has a rich history that can be traced back to biblical times and has been associated with various prominent figures throughout the centuries.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Nesiah can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it appears as a reference to the leaders of the Israelite tribes. In the Book of Numbers, the term "nasi" is used to describe the chiefs or princes who represented each tribe in the Israelite community.
During the medieval period, the name Nesiah gained popularity among Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. One notable figure who bore this name was Nesiah ben Sheetah, a renowned Talmudic scholar who lived in Babylonia during the 9th century CE. He was renowned for his expertise in Jewish law and his contributions to the development of the Talmud.
In the 12th century, Nesiah ben Yaakov, a prominent Jewish philosopher and poet, lived in Spain. He is known for his works on ethics and his efforts to reconcile Jewish thought with Aristotelian philosophy. His writings had a significant impact on the intellectual discourse of his time.
Another notable figure in history who carried the name Nesiah was Nesiah ben Reuben, a Jewish physician and philosopher from the 11th century. He lived in Egypt and was highly respected for his medical knowledge and his contributions to the study of philosophy and ethics.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Nesiah was Nesiah Twersky, a renowned Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. Born in 1888 in Ukraine, he played a pivotal role in preserving and spreading Hasidic teachings during the turbulent years of World War II and the Holocaust.
While the name Nesiah has its roots in Hebrew and Jewish history, it has also been adopted by other cultures and communities around the world, each adding their own unique interpretations and associations to this ancient name.
People
Nesiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nesiah 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
Nesiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nesiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nesiah 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Nesiah a common name?
We classify Nesiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nesiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nesiah was 2008, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nesiah is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Nesiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nesiah a female name?
Yes, 74.6% of people registered as Nesiah in the SSA data are female. 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 Nesiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nesiah 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 Nesiah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Nesiah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.