How rare is the name Nehemiah?

13,359 people in the United States have the first name Nehemiah, about 1 in 22,609. It ranks #2,042 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NEHEMIAH

#2,042

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
13,359
About
1 in 22,609
This common or more
78.3%
Who bears it

Of the 13,359 people named Nehemiah, 51.2% reported their origin as Black, 20.6% as Hispanic or Latino and 15.5% as White. 97.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nehemiah peaked in 2010, when 969 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18862025
Peak year
2010
Births that year
969
In 2025*
768 ▼21%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 22,439 babies have been given the name since 1886. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Nehemiah by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #716. The largest share of babies named Nehemiah, 49.2%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2,8837
1910s#4,25795
1920s#3,697182
1930s#4,074128
1940s#4,962103
1950s#4,734146
1960s#5,534132
1970s#4,830235
1980s#2,728705
1990s#2,4481,158
2000s#9685,718
2010s#7169,192
2020s#8304,638
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.1%
Silent Generation 1928–451%
Baby boom 1946–641.2%
Generation X 1965–801.6%
Millennials 1981–965.8%
Generation Z 1997–1240.2%
2013 and later49.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Nehemiah is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nehemiah has been most common in New Mexico (2.9×), Nevada (2.5×), and Florida (2.2×), and least common in West Virginia (0.27×).

19,117 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Nehemiah

#2,040 Rusty · 13,378#2,041 Dayana · 13,375#2,043 Libby · 13,353#2,044 Ivette · 13,332

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Nehemiah, most common first.

#24,306 Nehemie · 397#31,173 Nemiah · 276#36,737 Nehemia · 215

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