Jediah
Masculine · “the Lord knows”
Jediah stands between two biblical names that differ by one letter — Jedaiah, the Lord knows, and Jedidiah, beloved of the Lord, which was Solomon's other name.
How old is the name Jediah?
Jediah first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Jediah alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 900 people named Jediah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jediah most popular?
Jediah peaked in 2017, reaching #2450 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 1,499 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Jediah
Ours, offered as ours. The second book of Samuel does something curious: after Solomon is born, the prophet Nathan gives him a second name, Jedidiah, beloved of the Lord, and the text never uses it again. A name given by a prophet and then dropped is an odd thing to find in a genealogy. Jediah sits one letter from it and one letter from a priestly name meaning the Lord knows, and there is no telling which a family means.
Meaningscholars disagree
the Lord knows; or beloved of the Lord
Hebrew Yedayah joins a verb meaning to know to a form of the divine name. Yedidyah joins a word for beloved to the same element and is given to Solomon by the prophet Nathan. The modern spelling sits between them and neither reading is settled.
Pronouncing Jediah
jeh-DY-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Some families say JED-ee-uh.
Nicknames for Jediah
Moderate
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
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 201752 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2450reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- +8.0%27 in 2025, from 25
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.
Jediah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yedayah in Hebrew — related form
- Jedidiah in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Pennsylvania, California.
Jediahs among us
people named Jediah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Jediah
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 Tamiko test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jediah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tamiko climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tamiko's path sketches the road Jediah is walking now.
Jediah 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 Jediah is headed
Jediah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Jediah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jediah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Jed is a plain short form with its own American history.
- Two real biblical names stand immediately behind it.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- The Jedi clip is an overwhelming fictional association and unavoidable.
- Jediah, Jedidiah and Jedaiah are three different names and get confused.
- The stress is unsettled between the first and second syllables.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Jediah
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jediahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Jediah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jediah in 2025?
- Jediah ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jediah?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Jediah — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jediah with classmates?
- Jediah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jediah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Tillman#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jediah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jediah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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