Nahshon
Masculine
Nahshon is a minor figure in the Hebrew Bible with a very large moment in Jewish tradition. Numbers names him as the prince of the tribe of Judah; the rabbis added the story that when the people stood at the edge of the Red Sea and would not move, Nahshon walked in first, up to his neck, and only then did the water part. In modern Hebrew his name became the word for someone who goes first.
How old is the name Nahshon?
Nahshon first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Nahshon alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 700 people named Nahshon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nahshon most popular?
Nahshon peaked in 1995, reaching #2923 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 9,085 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Nachshon to Nahshon
The story of Nahshon
Nahshon appears in Numbers as the leader of Judah and in Exodus as the brother-in-law of Aaron, and the genealogies put him in the line that runs to David. The story about the sea comes from the Talmud rather than the biblical text, which is worth being exact about: the rabbis are filling a silence, and they did it so memorably that the name changed meaning in Hebrew because of it. American use is small and belongs mostly to Jewish families and to English-speaking families drawing on less-used biblical names.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Hebrew Nachshon has no settled derivation. The most-cited proposal connects it to nachash, a serpent, which is a word with a heavy load in the same scriptures; another reads it as something like enchanter, from a related root. Neither is demonstrated. What can be said is what the name became: nachshon is now an ordinary Hebrew word for a pioneer or a first mover.
How the name formed
- Nachshon
- Naasson
- Nahshon
Related forms: Nachshon · Naasson · Naasón
Pronouncing Nahshon
NAH-shon
Two syllables, stress on the first in American use. The Hebrew has a guttural in the middle that English does not have — the ch of Nachshon is not a k and not an h — and English speakers substitute a plain sh, which is why the American spelling drops the c.
Nicknames for Nahshon
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
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 199825 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2923reached in 1995
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
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.
Nahshon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nachshon in Hebrew — transliteration
- Naasson in Greek — transliteration
- Naasón in Spanish — same name
Nahshons among us
people named Nahshon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Nahshon
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 Shady test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nahshon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shady climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shady's path sketches the road Nahshon is walking now.
Nahshon 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
Nahshon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nahshon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Nash is available immediately and is entirely familiar in the United States.
- The story attached to the name is short, vivid and worth telling, which few biblical names of this size can offer.
- It is a documented scriptural name that almost nobody else in a classroom will have.
- In modern Hebrew the name is also a plain word, which gives it a second life.
- Almost no one outside Jewish communities will recognize it, so it needs introducing every time.
- The Hebrew sound in the middle cannot be produced by most English speakers, so the name is permanently approximated.
- Nachshon, Nahshon and Nachson all appear in English writing, which makes the spelling a small ongoing negotiation.
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Nahshon
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nahshons 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 Nahshon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nahshon in 2025?
- Nahshon ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nahshon?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Nahshon — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nahshon with classmates?
- Nahshon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nahshon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nahshon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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