Gideon
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “hewer”
Gideon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 22,270 boys against 32 girls since 1880.
Gideon comes out of the Book of Judges, was picked up by English Puritans reaching past the saints' calendar into the Hebrew Bible, and has been on American rolls for as long as such rolls have been kept. Three syllables, a hard G, and a soft landing at the end — it holds its shape whether shouted across a yard or read off a class list.
How old is the name Gideon?
Gideon was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Gideon is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 21,000 people named Gideon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gideon most popular?
Gideon peaked in 2017, reaching #304 nationally. Today it ranks #337, 33 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gidʿon (Hebrew) to Gideon
The story of Gideon
The name is Hebrew, borne in the Book of Judges by the figure who threshes wheat in a winepress and later pulls down his father's altar to Baal. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Gedeōn, and Latin carried that form into medieval Europe, where it stayed largely a scriptural word rather than a name for children. That changed with the Reformation: English Puritans of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries went hunting in the Old Testament for names, and Gideon crossed the Atlantic with them. It has been in continuous American use ever since, quiet in some generations and busier in others, and it belongs equally to Jewish families, where the Hebrew Gidon is well established.
Meaning
hewer, one who cuts down
From the Hebrew root gadaʿ, to cut down or fell. The looser gloss 'mighty warrior' that circulates in name lists comes not from the word itself but from the greeting given to the biblical Gideon, 'mighty man of valor'.
How the name formed
- GidʿonHebrew
- GedeōnGreek
- GedeonLatin
- GideonEnglish
Related forms: Gidon · Gédéon · Gedeón · Gedeon · Gideon · Gedeon
Pronouncing Gideon
GID-ee-un
Hard G, as in give — not the soft J sound of gin. Stress on the first syllable. Modern Hebrew places the stress at the other end: gid-OHN.
Nicknames for Gideon
High
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
- 20171,161 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #304reached in 2017
- Change vs 2022
- −3.3%993 in 2025, from 1,027
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.
Gideon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gidon in Hebrew — transliteration
- Gédéon in French — same name
- Gedeón in Spanish — same name
- Gedeon in Russian — transliteration
- Gideon in Dutch — same name
- Gedeon in Greek — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio.
Gideons among us
people named Gideon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,720 born in 2025 was named Gideon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ernie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gideon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ernie climbed just as high around 1945, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ernie's path sketches the road Gideon is walking now.
Gideon 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 Gideon is headed
Gideon 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.
Gideon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gideon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One unambiguous spelling in English, and it has been written that way for centuries — no variant to correct on forms.
- A continuous record in American use stretching back to the Puritan settlers, so it reads as established rather than newly coined.
- Recognizable across French, Spanish, Dutch, Russian and Hebrew, with the same three-part shape in each.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Gid, already worn in by generations of use.
- Familiar to most people from scripture without being a name they hear on other children.
- The hard G trips some readers, who reach for a J sound on first sight. It is a one-time correction, but it will recur through school, doctors' offices and new jobs.
- Gideons International has placed Bibles in hotel rooms since the late nineteenth century, so for many Americans the word arrives with a bedside-drawer association attached before the child does.
- Giddy is the obvious playground rhyme, and some children take to it while others do not.
- He is likely to be the only Gideon in his grade — pleasant for most, occasionally tiring for a child who would rather blend in.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Gideon to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Gideon
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #337 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gideons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 21,000 people named Gideon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gideon in 2025?
- Gideon ranks #337 among US boy names in 2025, with 993 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gideon?
- About 1 in every 1,720 US boys born in 2025 was named Gideon — 993 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gideon with classmates?
- Gideon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gideon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Paxton#338 · Bryan#336 · Martin#335 · Brian#339 · Marshall#340 · Orion#334 · Finley#333 · Cairo#341
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gideon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gideon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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