Naftuli
Masculine · “my struggle”
Naftuli is the Yiddish form of Naphtali, a Hebrew name that records an argument — Rachel names him for the struggle she says she has won.
How old is the name Naftuli?
Naftuli first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Naftuli is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Naftuli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Naftuli most popular?
Naftuli peaked in 2005, reaching #2467 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 1,381 places below that high. See the whole 2005 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Naftali to Naftuli
The story of Naftuli
Naphtali is one of Jacob's twelve sons and the ancestor of a tribe whose territory lay around the Sea of Galilee; Jacob's blessing calls him a deer let loose. Yiddish gives Naftuli and Naftali, and the name has stayed in continuous Ashkenazi use. It appears in American records chiefly in Orthodox and Hasidic families, often paired as Naftuli Hertz.
Meaning
my struggle
From a Hebrew root about wrestling or twisting; Genesis has Rachel say she has wrestled with her sister and prevailed, and names the child accordingly. The name is one of several in that chapter explained by the text itself.
How the name formed
- Naftali
- Naftuli
Related forms: Naftali · Naphtali · Naftule
Pronouncing Naftuli
NAF-too-lee
Three syllables, first stressed. Hebrew Naftali is naf-tah-LEE.
Nicknames for Naftuli
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
- 1991
- Most boys named
- 200546 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2467reached in 2005
- Change vs 2024
- −3.4%28 in 2025, from 29
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.
Naftuli in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Naftali in Hebrew — same name
- Naphtali in English — same name
- Naftule in Yiddish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey.
Naftulis among us
people named Naftuli are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Naftuli
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 Ruddy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Naftuli's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ruddy climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ruddy's path sketches the road Naftuli is walking now.
Naftuli 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 Naftuli is headed
Naftuli 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.
Naftuli beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Naftuli 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 outright.
- Tuli is a warm short form already in community use.
- Immediately recognizable in the community that uses it.
- Naftali and Naftuli mark Hebrew and Yiddish and are both used.
- Seven letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- The meaning records a family quarrel, which is an unusual thing to name for.
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What they receive
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Naftuli
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Naftulis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Naftuli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Naftuli in 2025?
- Naftuli ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Naftuli?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Naftuli — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Naftuli with classmates?
- Naftuli will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Naftuli
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Armand#3848 · Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Isreal#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Naftuli? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Naftuli and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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