Uriah
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "the Lord is my light".
Name Census estimates that about 12,002 living Americans carry the first name Uriah. It is a predominantly male name (92.9% of registrations). The average person named Uriah today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Uriah births was 2014 (592 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Uriah. 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 Uriah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,558 Americans
Peak year
2014
592 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#654
Tracked since 1880
Census
Uriah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,417 people with the first name Uriah, which placed it at #2,771 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
#2,771
National first-name rank
People counted
8.4K
8,417 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Uriah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Uriah is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Black (20.9%). 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 Uriah 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 Uriah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.4% · 3,570
- Hispanic or Latino21.3% · 1,794
- Black or African American20.9% · 1,760
- Two or more races9.3% · 780
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 327
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 186
Gender
Gender distribution for Uriah
Uriah leans heavily male at 92.9% of total registrations, but 885 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Uriah as a male name
- Ranked #654 in 2024
- 421 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (559 births)
Uriah as a female name
- Ranked #5,408 in 2024
- 24 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Uriah leans strongly male. 7,810 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 605 female bearers (7.2%).
Popularity
Uriah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Uriah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 5,123 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Uriah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Uriah 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 Uriah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Uriahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Uriah, while Utah, Nebraska, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 205 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Uriah
The given name Uriah has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is a biblical name derived from the elements "uri" meaning "my light" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh. The name can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible, where it was borne by a Hittite soldier in the army of King David.
One of the earliest and most notable mentions of the name Uriah is found in the Second Book of Samuel in the Bible. Uriah the Hittite was a loyal soldier in King David's army who was sent to the frontlines of battle by David so that he would be killed, allowing the king to take Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, as his own. This biblical story has contributed to the name's enduring legacy and its association with themes of loyalty, betrayal, and tragic love.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Uriah. One of the earliest recorded examples is Uriah ben Shemaiah, a scribe mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible, who lived around 600 BCE. Another early figure was Uriah the Priest, who was executed by King Jehoiakim of Judah for prophesying against Jerusalem, as mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah.
In the 17th century, Uriah Rake was an English mathematician and inventor who lived from 1638 to 1711. He is best known for his work on the sundial and for inventing a mathematical instrument called the "Rake's Sector."
The name Uriah also gained prominence in the United States during the 19th century. Uriah Milton Rose was an American politician and lawyer who served as a Senator from Arkansas from 1846 to 1851. Uriah Milligan was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, known for his role in the Battle of Fort Donelson in 1862.
Another notable figure was Uriah Smith, an American religious writer and editor who lived from 1832 to 1903. He was a prominent figure in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and served as the editor of the church's official publication, the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, for many years.
While the name Uriah has biblical roots and a rich historical legacy, its usage has declined in modern times. However, it remains a meaningful and significant name, evoking themes of loyalty, faith, and perseverance.
People
Uriah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Uriah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Uriah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Uriah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,002 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Uriah 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 28,558 US residents.
Is Uriah a common name?
We classify Uriah as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,530 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Uriah most popular?
The single biggest year for Uriah was 2014, when 592 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Uriah is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Uriah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,417 people with the name Uriah, or 2.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,771 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 Uriah 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 Uriah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Uriah leans strongly male. 7,810 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 605 female bearers (7.2%). 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 Uriah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Uriah is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.3%) and Black (20.9%). 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 Uriah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Uriah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.4% (3,570 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 Uriah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Uriah a male name?
Yes, 92.9% of people registered as Uriah 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 Uriah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Uriah 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 Uriah 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 common is the name Uriah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Uriah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.