Manasseh
Masculine · “causing to forget”
Manasseh is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 577 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Manasseh is Hebrew for causing to forget, and Joseph names his first son that because Egypt has made him forget his father's house.
How old is the name Manasseh?
Manasseh first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Manasseh alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 600 people named Manasseh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Manasseh most popular?
Manasseh peaked in 2024, reaching #3693 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 846 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Menashe to Manasseh
The story of Manasseh
Joseph names his two sons in Egypt for what has happened to him — Manasseh because God made him forget, and Ephraim because God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction. Both names are about coming to terms with exile. Manasseh became a tribe and, later, an unusually bad king of Judah. English Protestants took the name after the Reformation.
Meaning
causing to forget
From Hebrew nashah, to forget; Genesis has Joseph say God has made him forget his hardship and his father's house, and names the child accordingly. It is one of the names the text explains outright.
How the name formed
- Menashe
- Manasseh
Related forms: Menashe · Manasses · Manassa
Pronouncing Manasseh
muh-NAS-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Hebrew gives meh-nah-SHEH.
Nicknames for Manasseh
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
- 202430 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3693reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −26.7%22 in 2025, from 30
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.
Manasseh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Menashe in Hebrew — same name
- Manasses in English — spelling variant
- Manassa in Arabic — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Manassehs among us
people named Manasseh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Manasseh
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 Dalin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Manasseh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dalin climbed just as high around 1995, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dalin's path sketches the road Manasseh is walking now.
Manasseh 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
Manasseh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Manasseh 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 the biblical text explains in the moment it is given.
- Manny and Nash are both complete short forms in current use.
- A genuinely poignant naming speech behind it.
- The king of that name has one of the worst reputations in Kings.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- The English and Hebrew pronunciations differ at several sounds.
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What they receive
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Manasseh
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Manassehs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Manasseh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Manasseh in 2025?
- Manasseh ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Manasseh?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Manasseh — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Manasseh with classmates?
- Manasseh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Manasseh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Manasseh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Manasseh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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