Zebediah
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "gift of Jehovah" or "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 591 living Americans carry the first name Zebediah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zebediah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zebediah births was 2007 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zebediah. 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 Zebediah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
591
~ 1 in 579,957 Americans
Peak year
2007
26 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,873
Tracked since 1978
Census
Zebediah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 444 people with the first name Zebediah, which placed it at #22,416 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
#22,416
National first-name rank
People counted
444
444 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zebediah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zebediah is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.5%) and Two or More Races (9.2%). 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 Zebediah 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 Zebediah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 327
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 42
- Two or more races9.2% · 41
- Black or African American5.0% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 4
Popularity
Zebediah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zebediah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Zebediah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zebediah 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 Zebediah 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 Zebediah
The name Zebediah is derived from the Hebrew name Zebadyah, which means "gift of God" or "dowry of God." It has its roots in ancient Semitic languages and the Biblical tradition.
The earliest recorded use of the name Zebediah can be traced back to the New Testament of the Bible. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, Zebedee is mentioned as the father of the apostles James and John, who were among the first disciples of Jesus Christ.
During the Middle Ages, the name Zebediah was relatively uncommon in most parts of Europe. However, it gained popularity among certain Protestant Christian groups, particularly in England and Scotland, where it was seen as a pious and virtuous name with strong Biblical connections.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Zebediah was Zebediah Crofton (c. 1626-1672), an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works during the 17th century. Another notable figure was Zebediah Turvill (1656-1734), an English lawyer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Calne in the early 18th century.
In the American colonies, the name Zebediah was used by some Puritan families, reflecting their strong religious beliefs and desire to honor Biblical figures. Zebediah Wyman (1658-1718) was a prominent early settler in Massachusetts and served as a military officer during King William's War.
During the 19th century, the name Zebediah gained some popularity in various parts of the English-speaking world. Zebediah Colby (1804-1889) was an American explorer and surveyor who helped map the American West. Zebediah Killgrave (1836-1904) was a Scottish-born American politician who served as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina.
Another notable figure with the name was Zebediah Peck (1819-1895), an American businessman and politician who was involved in the early development of the petroleum industry in Pennsylvania. His son, Zebediah Peck Jr. (1857-1923), also carried on the family name and worked in the oil industry.
While the name Zebediah has become less common in more recent times, it has left an enduring legacy as a unique and deeply meaningful name with strong ties to religious and historical traditions.
People
Zebediah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zebediah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zebediah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zebediah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 591 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zebediah 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 579,957 US residents.
Is Zebediah a common name?
We classify Zebediah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 602 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zebediah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zebediah was 2007, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zebediah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zebediah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 444 people with the name Zebediah, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,416 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 Zebediah 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 Zebediah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zebediah leans strongly male. 438 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Zebediah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zebediah is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.5%) and Two or More Races (9.2%). 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 Zebediah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zebediah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (327 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 Zebediah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zebediah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zebediah 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 Zebediah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zebediah 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 Zebediah 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 Zebediah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.