Prophet
One who speaks for God or interprets divine instruction.
Name Census estimates that about 302 living Americans carry the first name Prophet. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Prophet today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Prophet births was 2019 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Prophet. 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
302
~ 1 in 1,134,948 Americans
Peak year
2019
23 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,825
Tracked since 1918
Census
Prophet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 215 people with the first name Prophet, which placed it at #36,733 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
#36,733
National first-name rank
People counted
215
215 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Prophet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Prophet is Black at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.6%) and White (9.3%). 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 Prophet 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 Prophet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.2% · 151
- Two or more races11.6% · 25
- White9.3% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Prophet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Prophet from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 102 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
Prophet 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 Prophet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Prophets live
Origin
Meaning and history of Prophet
The name Prophet originates from the Greek word "prophetes," which means "one who speaks for another." This name has its roots in ancient Greek culture, dating back to the classical era. It was originally used to refer to individuals who were believed to have the ability to interpret the will of the gods and convey divine messages to the people.
During the Hellenistic period, the concept of prophecy and the role of prophets gained prominence in various ancient societies. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the name Prophet was associated with individuals who were regarded as messengers of God, tasked with delivering divine revelations and guiding the people on a righteous path.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Prophet can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The book of Isaiah, written around the 8th century BCE, mentions the prophet Isaiah, who is considered one of the greatest prophets in the Jewish tradition. Other notable prophets mentioned in the Bible include Moses, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah.
In the Islamic faith, the name Prophet holds great significance, as it refers to individuals chosen by God to receive and convey His messages. The most revered Prophet in Islam is Muhammad, who is believed to be the last messenger of God and the founder of the Islamic religion. He was born in Mecca, Arabia, in 570 CE and played a pivotal role in spreading the teachings of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
Throughout history, several individuals have borne the name Prophet or its variations. One notable example is Prophet Jones, an African-American Baptist minister and civil rights activist, born in 1836 in Kentucky. He was a prominent figure in the abolitionist movement and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of African Americans during the post-Civil War era.
Another individual with the name Prophet was Prophet Foster, an American Baptist preacher and activist, born in 1838 in Alabama. He was a vocal advocate for the rights of African Americans and played a significant role in the establishment of educational institutions for the Black community in the late 19th century.
In the realm of literature, Prophet Elizabeth Clare, an American novelist and poet, born in 1942, is widely acclaimed for her works exploring themes of identity, spirituality, and social justice. Her influential book, "The Prophet's Wife," published in 1986, is a seminal work in contemporary American literature.
Prophet Christopher Hill, an English historian and author, born in 1912, is renowned for his groundbreaking works on the English Civil War and the 17th-century Protestant Reformation. His book, "The World Turned Upside Down," published in 1972, is a classic in the field of early modern British history.
Prophet Amos, a shepherd and farmer from the ancient Kingdom of Judah, is recognized as one of the earliest Hebrew prophets. He lived during the 8th century BCE and is known for his prophecies recorded in the biblical Book of Amos, which emphasizes social justice and condemns oppression and injustice.
People
Prophet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Prophet 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
Prophet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Prophet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 302 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Prophet 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 1,134,948 US residents.
Is Prophet a common name?
We classify Prophet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 310 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Prophet most popular?
The single biggest year for Prophet was 2019, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Prophet is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Prophet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 215 people with the name Prophet, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,733 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 Prophet 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 Prophet?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Prophet leans strongly male. 203 people counted with this name were male (92.3%), compared with 17 female bearers (7.7%). 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 Prophet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Prophet is Black at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.6%) and White (9.3%). 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 Prophet most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Prophet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (151 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 Prophet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Prophet a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Prophet 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 Prophet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Prophet 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 Prophet 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 share the name Prophet?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.