Pinchus
A masculine name of German origin, derived from Pinchas, meaning "mouth of a serpent".
Name Census estimates that about 663 living Americans carry the first name Pinchus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pinchus today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pinchus births was 2018 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pinchus. 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
663
~ 1 in 516,975 Americans
Peak year
2018
28 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,654
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Pinchus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pinchus from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 201 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Pinchus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pinchus 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 Pinchus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pinchus' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pinchus
Pinchus is a Yiddish name derived from the Hebrew name Pinchas, which means "mouth of brass" or "interpreter." The name has its origins in ancient times, dating back to biblical references.
The name Pinchas appears in the Torah, the central text of Judaism, as the name of a priest who played a pivotal role in stopping a plague that had spread among the Israelites. This biblical figure is celebrated for his zeal and devotion to God, and his name has been adopted by many Jewish families over the centuries.
In the Middle Ages, the name Pinchas evolved into the Yiddish form Pinchus, which became popular among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. This variant spelling was widely used in regions such as Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Pinchus can be found in the 16th century, when a prominent rabbi named Pinchus ben Tzvi Hirsch lived in Poland. He was a respected scholar and authored several important works on Jewish law and philosophy.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Pinchus. One of them was Pinchus Mendel Shemtov, a 19th-century Hasidic rabbi from Ukraine who was known for his wisdom and leadership. Another was Pinchus Kremenetskyy, a 20th-century Yiddish writer and journalist from Ukraine who chronicled the struggles of Jewish life in the Soviet Union.
In the 18th century, Pinchus Elijah Hurwitz, a renowned Hebrew scholar and grammarian from Lithuania, made significant contributions to the study of the Hebrew language. His works on Hebrew grammar and syntax were widely influential.
Another notable figure was Pinchus Burstein, a Polish-born American labor leader and activist who played a key role in organizing workers in the early 20th century garment industry in New York City.
Pinchus Kehillath Moshe, a prominent 19th-century rabbi and scholar from Galicia (modern-day Poland and Ukraine), was renowned for his expertise in Talmudic studies and Jewish law. His teachings and writings had a lasting impact on Jewish scholarship in Eastern Europe.
People
Pinchus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pinchus as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pinchus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pinchus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 663 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pinchus 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 516,975 US residents.
Is Pinchus a common name?
We classify Pinchus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 673 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pinchus most popular?
The single biggest year for Pinchus was 2018, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pinchus is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pinchus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pinchus 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.
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.