Nethaniah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Nethaniah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nethaniah today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nethaniah births was 2003 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nethaniah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nethaniah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2003
5 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2003 SSA rank
#12,187
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Nethaniah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Nethaniah 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 Nethaniah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Nethaniah
Nethaniah is a Hebrew name derived from the elements "nathan" meaning "given" and "Yah" which refers to the Hebrew God Yahweh. The name essentially translates to "Given by God" or "Gifted by God." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible, where it first appeared.
One of the earliest mentions of the name Nethaniah is found in the Book of Jeremiah, where it refers to a man named Nethaniah, the son of Ishmael, who assassinated Gedaliah, the governor of Judah appointed by the Babylonians after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE.
In the Book of 2 Kings, Nethaniah is recorded as one of the princes of Judah during the reign of King Jehoiakim, who lived in the late 7th century BCE. Nethaniah is also mentioned as the father of Ishmael, who killed Gedaliah, the governor of Judah appointed by the Babylonians after the fall of Jerusalem.
Another notable figure named Nethaniah was a Levite during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, who lived in the 5th century BCE. He is mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah as one of those who participated in the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem.
In the Book of 1 Chronicles, Nethaniah is listed as one of the sons of Asaph, a Levite who served as a musician and singer in the Temple during the reign of King David in the 10th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nethaniah was Nethaniah ben Hananiah, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 1st century CE and was a contemporary of the famous Rabbi Akiva. He is mentioned in the Talmud as a respected authority on Jewish law and tradition.
Throughout history, several other notable individuals have borne the name Nethaniah, including Nethaniah Ibn al-Fayyumi, a 10th-century Jewish grammarian and scholar from Egypt, and Nethaniah Herschler, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and kabbalist from Poland.
People
Nethaniah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nethaniah 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
Nethaniah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nethaniah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nethaniah 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Nethaniah a common name?
We classify Nethaniah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nethaniah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nethaniah was 2003, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nethaniah is about 23 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 Nethaniah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nethaniah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nethaniah 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 Nethaniah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nethaniah 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 Nethaniah 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 called Nethaniah?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.