Jedadiah
Masculine · “beloved of the Lord”
Jedadiah is a spelling of Jedidiah, a Hebrew name meaning beloved of the Lord. It was the second name of King Solomon, and in America it belongs to a mountain man who survived a grizzly bear.
How old is the name Jedadiah?
Jedadiah first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Jedadiah alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 500 people named Jedadiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jedadiah most popular?
Jedadiah peaked in 1979, reaching #1464 nationally. See the whole 1979 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yedidyah to Jedadiah
The story of Jedadiah
In the Second Book of Samuel, when Solomon is born, the prophet Nathan gives him a second name, Jedidiah, beloved of the Lord, though the Bible never uses it again. In the American West, the trapper Jedediah Smith was mauled by a grizzly that tore his scalp and ear; he had a companion sew them back on, and went on to lead the first Americans overland into California. Jedadiah writes the middle vowel with an a.
Meaning
beloved of the Lord
From Hebrew Yedidyah, beloved of Yah. Jedadiah is a spelling of Jedidiah.
How the name formed
- Yedidyah
- Jedidiah
- Jedadiah
Related forms: Yedidya · Jedediah
Pronouncing Jedadiah
jed-uh-DY-uh
Stress on the third syllable.
Nicknames for Jedadiah
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
- 1977
- Most boys named
- 197941 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1464reached in 1979
- Change vs 2017
- 0.0%5 in 2018, from 5
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.
Jedadiah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yedidya in Hebrew — same name
- Jedediah in English — spelling variant
Jedadiahs among us
people named Jedadiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jedadiah sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Its meaning, beloved of the Lord, is warm and clear.
- Jed is a friendly short form.
- It carries a rugged American history.
- People will write Jedidiah or Jedediah.
- It is long and will be shortened on forms.
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Jedadiah
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jedadiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Jedadiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jedadiah in 2025?
- Jedadiah is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jedadiah with classmates?
- Jedadiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jedadiah? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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