Enoch
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “Dedicated”
Enoch is one of the oldest names still in ordinary use — a Genesis name, carried into English through the Hebrew Bible and out again into every language the Bible was translated into. Two syllables, a hard K at the end, nothing to trim and nothing to soften. Familiar on the page to almost anyone, yet rarely met in person.
How old is the name Enoch?
Enoch was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Enoch alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 9,100 people named Enoch are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Enoch most popular?
Enoch peaked in 1880, reaching #200 nationally. Today it ranks #746, 546 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Enoch appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Ḥanokh (Hebrew) to Enoch
The story of Enoch
Enoch appears twice in Genesis: once as a son of Cain, and once in the line of Seth as the father of Methuselah, the man who "walked with God" and was taken. That second Enoch became the center of a whole body of ancient Jewish writing — the Book of Enoch, quoted in the Epistle of Jude, which survives complete only in Ge'ez and remains scriptural in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote the name as Henokh, and Latin passed it to English largely unchanged. It became a real English given name with the Puritan turn toward Old Testament names in the seventeenth century, crossed the Atlantic with them, and has never entirely left American records since.
Meaning
Dedicated; trained or initiated
From Hebrew Ḥanokh, built on the root ḥ-n-k, which covers dedicating and training alike — the same root behind Hanukkah, the festival of dedication. English sources render it variously as "dedicated," "consecrated" or "trained," but these are readings of one root rather than competing origins.
How the name formed
- ḤanokhHebrew
- HenokhGreek, Septuagint
- HenochLatin
- EnochEnglish
Related forms: Ḥanokh · Enoc · Henok · Enoque · Henoch · Hénoch
Pronouncing Enoch
EE-nuk
Stress on the first syllable. The ch is a hard K, as in stomach — not the ch of church. Spanish-speaking families using the form Enoc say eh-NOK, with the stress on the second syllable.
Nicknames for Enoch
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025348 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #200reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +13.4%348 in 2025, from 307
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Enoch in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ḥanokh in Hebrew — same name
- Enoc in Spanish — same name
- Henok in Amharic / Ge'ez — same name
- Enoque in Portuguese — same name
- Henoch in German — spelling variant
- Hénoch in French — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Enochs among us
people named Enoch are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,908 born in 2025 was named Enoch
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Enoch sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Enoch is headed
Enoch should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Enoch beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Enoch in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables, six letters, no silent tail — short enough to write on a lunchbox and long enough to feel like a full name.
- A continuous record in English since the seventeenth century, and in Hebrew scripture for far longer than that.
- Recognizable in Spanish, Portuguese, Amharic, German and Hebrew, because the Bible carried it into all of them.
- Used in full by almost everyone, so there is no nickname to negotiate with relatives or classmates.
- The ch trips people. Expect a portion of strangers to try "EE-notch" on first sight, and a lifetime of a small, easy correction.
- It reads as unmistakably scriptural. That is welcome in many families and worth thinking about if you would rather a name not announce a religious frame before your child says anything.
- In Britain the name is closely tied to the politician Enoch Powell and his 1968 speech on immigration. This carries little weight in American ears, but matters if your family has British connections.
- Its steadiness on American charts has never been loudness — a child named Enoch is likely to be the only one in the grade, which some people enjoy and others find tiring.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Enoch to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Enoch? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Enoch
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #746 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Enochs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,100 people named Enoch are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Enoch in 2025?
- Enoch ranks #746 among US boy names in 2025, with 348 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Enoch?
- About 1 in every 4,908 US boys born in 2025 was named Enoch — 348 in all.
- Will my child share the name Enoch with classmates?
- Enoch will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Enoch
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Franco#746 · Yousef#744 · Brixton#744 · Bode#748 · Azaiah#749 · Forest#750 · Clyde#742 · Abram#742
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Enoch? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Enoch and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle