Yahveh
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "The Existing One".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Yahveh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yahveh today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yahveh births was 2016 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yahveh. 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 Yahveh. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2016
5 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2016 SSA rank
#14,111
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Yahveh: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Yahveh 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 Yahveh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Yahveh
The name Yahveh is rooted in the ancient Hebrew language and culture, believed to have originated during the Bronze Age in the Levant region of the Middle East. It is derived from the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHWH, which is the personal name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. The name is closely associated with the Israelite religion and its monotheistic belief in a single, all-powerful, and transcendent deity.
Yahveh is considered one of the most significant names in the Hebrew Scriptures, appearing thousands of times in the texts. It is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, which narrates the creation of the world and the establishment of God's covenant with the Israelites. The name is also prominently featured in other books of the Torah, such as Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yahveh can be found in the Mesha Stele, an ancient Moabite inscription dated to around 840 BCE. This archaeological artifact offers insights into the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Near East, including the use of the name Yahveh.
Throughout history, the name Yahveh has been revered and invoked by numerous individuals, particularly within the Judaic tradition. Some notable figures who bore this name or were associated with it include:
1. Yahveh, the central figure in the Hebrew Bible, revered as the one true God by the Israelites and later by Jews and Christians.
2. Yahveh-nathan (c. 850 BCE), an Israelite prophet mentioned in the Book of Chronicles.
3. Yahveh-shama (c. 700 BCE), a Hebrew prophet during the reign of King Manasseh, as recorded in the Book of Jeremiah.
4. Yahveh-yireh (c. 2000 BCE), a name given to the place where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son Isaac, as mentioned in the Book of Genesis.
5. Yahveh-tsidqenu (c. 600 BCE), a symbolic name for the Messiah, meaning "The Lord is our righteousness," found in the Book of Jeremiah.
While the name Yahveh has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture and religion, it has also gained significant recognition and reverence within other monotheistic faiths, such as Christianity and Islam, which share a common heritage with Judaism.
People
Yahveh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yahveh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yahveh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yahveh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yahveh 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Yahveh a common name?
We classify Yahveh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yahveh most popular?
The single biggest year for Yahveh was 2016, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yahveh is about 10 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 Yahveh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yahveh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yahveh 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 Yahveh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yahveh 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 Yahveh 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 have the name Yahveh?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Yahveh, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.