Jehu
Masculine · “He is the Lord”
Jehu was a king of Israel who took the throne in a coup, and his name is a short declaration: He is the Lord. His chariot-driving is proverbial in English.
How old is the name Jehu?
Jehu first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Jehu alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 900 people named Jehu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jehu most popular?
Jehu peaked in 1916, reaching #2543 nationally. Today it ranks #3583, 1,040 places below that high. See the whole 1916 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yehu to Jehu
The story of Jehu
Jehu is anointed by a prophet, kills two kings and destroys the house of Ahab, and the account describes him driving furiously — which gave English the word jehu for a fast or reckless driver, still in the dictionary. He is also, unusually, named in an Assyrian inscription, one of the few Israelite kings independently attested. The name entered English through the Bible and was used by Protestant families in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Meaning
He is the Lord
From Hebrew Yehu, joining a pronoun to a shortened form of the divine name; the same divine element closes Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah.
How the name formed
- Yehu
- Jehu
Related forms: Yehu · Jehú · Iou
Pronouncing Jehu
JEE-hyoo
Two syllables, first stressed. Hebrew gives yeh-HOO, with a y at the front and the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Jehu
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 202435 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2543reached in 1916
- Change vs 2024
- −11.4%31 in 2025, from 35
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.
Jehu in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yehu in Hebrew — same name
- Jehú in Spanish — same name
- Iou in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Jehus among us
people named Jehu are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was named Jehu
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
Jehu 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 Jehu is headed
Jehu looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 19% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Jehu beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jehu in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning that forms a complete sentence in two syllables.
- A documented king independently attested in Assyrian records.
- Four letters, very quick to write.
- The English word jehu means a reckless driver and comes from this man.
- The biblical account of his reign is extremely violent.
- The English and Hebrew pronunciations share almost nothing.
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What they receive
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Jehu
Masculine · #3583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jehus 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 Jehu are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jehu in 2025?
- Jehu ranks #3583 among US boy names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jehu?
- About 1 in every 55,099 US boys born in 2025 was named Jehu — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jehu with classmates?
- Jehu will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jehu
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Geoffrey#3583 · Robinson#3583 · Kimani#3583 · Emre#3583 · Yoan#3583 · Anirudh#3583 · Sutter#3583 · Heber#3583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jehu? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jehu and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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