Tiberias
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "of the river Tiber".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Tiberias. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tiberias today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tiberias births was 2016 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tiberias. 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 Tiberias. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
2016
5 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,878
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Tiberias: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tiberias from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tiberias remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tiberias 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 Tiberias 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 Tiberias
The name Tiberias is derived from the Latin name Tiberius, which was a family name in ancient Rome. It originated from the Latin word "Tiberis," meaning the Tiber River, one of the major rivers in Italy that flows through Rome. The name Tiberius was first used as a cognomen or family surname by the Claudian family, one of the most prominent patrician families in Rome.
The name Tiberias gained significant prominence and historical significance due to its association with the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from 14 AD to 37 AD. He was the second Roman emperor, succeeding his stepfather, Augustus. Tiberius was known for his military campaigns, administrative reforms, and conservative policies, although his later years were marked by increasing paranoia and cruelty.
During the Roman Empire, the name Tiberias was also used as a toponym, referring to the city of Tiberias in modern-day Israel. The city was founded around 20 AD by Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, and named in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Tiberias became an important center for Jewish learning and culture, and it is mentioned in the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Tiberias is in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is mentioned in the Gospel of John. The Sea of Galilee is also referred to as the Sea of Tiberias, reflecting the significance of the city during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tiberias:
1. Tiberius Sempronius Longus (fl. 218 BC), a Roman consul and military commander during the Second Punic War.
2. Tiberius Claudius Nero (85 BC - 33 BC), a Roman politician and father of the future emperor Tiberius.
3. Tiberius Claudius Caesaris Augustus (42 BC - 37 AD), the second Roman emperor, also known as Tiberius Caesar Augustus.
4. Tiberius Claudius Balbillus (fl. 79 AD), a Roman philosopher and astrologer during the reign of Emperor Vespasian.
5. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (163 BC - 133 BC), a Roman politician and reformer, known for his agrarian reforms and social policies.
The name Tiberias has a rich historical background, rooted in ancient Roman culture and the Roman Empire, and it has been associated with various notable figures throughout history, particularly in the fields of politics, military, and philosophy.
People
Tiberias + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tiberias as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tiberias: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tiberias?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tiberias 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Tiberias a common name?
We classify Tiberias as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tiberias most popular?
The single biggest year for Tiberias was 2016, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tiberias is about 8 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 Tiberias in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tiberias a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tiberias 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 Tiberias still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tiberias 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 Tiberias 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 Tiberias?
Want to know how many people have the name Tiberias? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.