Jethro
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “his abundance”
Jethro comes out of the Book of Exodus, where it belongs to the Midianite priest who shelters Moses, gives him a daughter in marriage, and later tells him to stop judging every dispute himself. It arrived in English through the Reformation-era Bible translations and has stayed in the language ever since, never crowded, never quite gone. Three syllables' worth of consonant and then that open -ro at the end.
How old is the name Jethro?
Jethro first appears in US birth records in 1893 — 132 years ago. The typical Jethro is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 3,400 people named Jethro are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jethro most popular?
Jethro peaked in 1899, reaching #857 nationally. Today it ranks #952, 95 places below that high. See the whole 1899 chart.
Jethro appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yitro (Hebrew) to Jethro
The story of Jethro
The name is Hebrew, Yitro, and in Exodus it belongs to the priest of Midian who takes in Moses during his years away from Egypt and whose daughter Zipporah Moses marries. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Iothor, Latin took it as Iethro, and English Bibles settled on Jethro — which is how it reached English-speaking families after the Reformation, along with a wave of other Old Testament names. The best-known English bearer was Jethro Tull, the eighteenth-century agricultural writer who developed an early seed drill, and it was his name the rock band borrowed two centuries later. In American records the name has never disappeared, though it has spent long stretches thinly represented.
Meaning
his abundance, his excellence
The Hebrew Yitro is built on the root yeter, 'abundance, surplus, what is left over' — hence the traditional gloss 'his excellence' alongside the more literal 'his abundance'.
How the name formed
- YitroHebrew
- IothorGreek
- IethroLatin
- JethroEnglish
Related forms: Yitro · Jetro · Jetro · Jéthro · Ietro · Iethro
Pronouncing Jethro
JETH-roh
Stress on the first syllable. The 'th' is the soft, unvoiced one as in 'think', not the 'th' of 'this'. Speakers of languages without that sound often land on 'JET-ro', which is also how the Spanish and Portuguese forms are said.
Nicknames for Jethro
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
- 1893
- Most boys named
- 2025245 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #857reached in 1899
- Change vs 2023
- +29.6%245 in 2025, from 189
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.
Jethro in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yitro in Hebrew — same name
- Jetro in Spanish — same name
- Jetro in Portuguese — same name
- Jéthro in French — same name
- Ietro in Italian — same name
- Iethro in Latin — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Pennsylvania.
Jethros among us
people named Jethro are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,972 born in 2025 was named Jethro
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
Jethro is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Jethro is headed
Jethro 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.
Jethro beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jethro in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and known to anyone who has read Exodus — an unfamiliar name that still needs no explanation of how to write it.
- For many Americans the first association is Jethro Bodine of The Beverly Hillbillies, which gave the name a rural, comic tinge that lingered for decades. That association fades with each generation, but it is still out there.
- Others will hear the band before the man it was named for, so expect a certain number of 'like Jethro Tull?' conversations.
- A child with this name will most likely be the only one anywhere in the school — a pleasure for some kids, a small burden for the ones who would rather not be asked about it.
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Jethro
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #952 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jethros are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,400 people named Jethro are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jethro in 2025?
- Jethro ranks #952 among US boy names in 2025, with 245 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jethro?
- About 1 in every 6,972 US boys born in 2025 was named Jethro — 245 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jethro with classmates?
- Jethro will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jethro
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mitchell#952 · Agustin#952 · Jon#951 · Josias#950 · Felipe#955 · Gian#955 · Legacy#955 · Ricky#948
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jethro? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jethro and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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