Uriyah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "The Lord is my light".
Name Census estimates that about 681 living Americans carry the first name Uriyah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Uriyah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Uriyah births was 2018 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Uriyah. 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
681
~ 1 in 503,310 Americans
Peak year
2018
53 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,767
Tracked since 2004
Gender
Gender distribution for Uriyah
Uriyah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 686 total registrations, 467 (68.1%) were male and 219 (31.9%) were female.
Uriyah as a male name
- Ranked #3,767 in 2024
- 30 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (35 births)
Uriyah as a female name
- Ranked #11,003 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (22 births)
Popularity
Uriyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Uriyah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 406 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Uriyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Uriyah 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 Uriyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Uriyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Uriyah, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Uriyah
The name Uriyah is of Hebrew origin, deriving from the biblical name Uriah. It is derived from the Hebrew words "ur" meaning "flame" or "light" and "Yah" as a shortened form of Yahweh, the name for God. The name can be translated to mean "Yahweh is my light" or "flame of the Lord."
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Uriah is in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the Second Book of Samuel. In this account, Uriah the Hittite was a soldier in the army of King David and was the husband of Bathsheba. This biblical story has made the name well-known in Judeo-Christian traditions.
In ancient times, the name Uriyah was relatively uncommon, but it has been used throughout history by various individuals. One notable bearer of the name was Uriah P. Levy (1792-1862), a Jewish-American naval officer who served in the United States Navy and fought against antisemitism in the military.
Another historical figure with the name Uriyah was Uriyah Phillips (1801-1876), a Jewish-American merchant and philanthropist from Natchez, Mississippi. He was instrumental in establishing the first Jewish congregation in Mississippi and supported various educational and charitable causes.
In the 19th century, Uriyah Stephens (1821-1900) was a Welsh Baptist minister and writer who published numerous works on religious topics and Welsh culture. He was also involved in the Welsh language revival movement of the time.
In more recent history, Uriyah Heep was the stage name adopted by the English singer and songwriter David Byron (1947-1985), best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Uriah Heep.
Uriyah Faber (born 1978) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former WEC and UFC featherweight champion. He is considered one of the greatest fighters in the history of the lighter weight classes in mixed martial arts.
People
Uriyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Uriyah 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
Uriyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Uriyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Uriyah 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 503,310 US residents.
Is Uriyah a common name?
We classify Uriyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 686 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Uriyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Uriyah was 2018, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Uriyah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Uriyah a male name?
Yes, 68.1% of people registered as Uriyah 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.