Nehemiah
Masculine · “comforted by Yah (God)”
Nehemiah is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 21,804 boys against 635 girls since 1880. See Nehemiah as a girl name
Nehemiah comes to English straight out of the Hebrew Bible, where it belongs to the man who organized the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls in the fifth century BC and left a first-person account of it. Say it aloud and it opens up in four unhurried beats, nee-uh-MY-uh, with the stress landing late — the same rhythm English gives Isaiah and Zachariah. It has been written this way, letter for letter, for centuries.
How old is the name Nehemiah?
Nehemiah first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Nehemiah is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 21,000 people named Nehemiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nehemiah most popular?
Nehemiah peaked in 2010, reaching #336 nationally. Today it ranks #429, 93 places below that high. See the whole 2010 chart.
Where it comes from
From Nechemyah to Nehemiah
The story of Nehemiah
The name is Hebrew: Nechemyah, borne by the governor who returned from the Persian court to rebuild Jerusalem, and by the biblical book that carries his memoir. Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures wrote it Neemias, Latin took it as Nehemias, and English Bibles settled on the spelling we use now. English-speaking Puritans in the seventeenth century drew heavily on Old Testament names beyond the familiar few, and Nehemiah traveled with them to New England, where it stayed in use among families who named from scripture. Its American record is long and unbroken, with the widest use now in the South and West.
Meaning
comforted by Yah (God)
From Hebrew Nechemyah, joining a root meaning comfort or consolation with the divine name — often rendered 'Yahweh comforts'.
How the name formed
- Nechemyah
- Neemias
- Nehemias
- Nehemiah
Related forms: Nechemyah · Nehemías · Neemias · Neemias · Nehemias · Neemiya
Pronouncing Nehemiah
nee-uh-MY-uh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Some speakers begin it nay-, and the middle 'h' is not pronounced as a separate sound.
Nicknames for Nehemiah
High
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 2013931 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #336reached in 2010
- Change vs 2023
- +2.5%743 in 2025, from 725
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.
Nehemiah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nechemyah in Hebrew — transliteration
- Nehemías in Spanish — same name
- Neemias in Portuguese — same name
- Neemias in Greek — same name
- Nehemias in Latin — same name
- Neemiya in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Nehemiahs among us
people named Nehemiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,299 born in 2025 was named Nehemiah
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 Rashad test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nehemiah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rashad climbed just as high around 1987, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rashad's path sketches the road Nehemiah is walking now.
Nehemiah 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 Nehemiah is headed
Nehemiah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Nehemiah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nehemiah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A single spelling fixed by centuries of English Bibles, so there is no competing variant to choose between.
- Recognizable across Spanish and Portuguese as Nehemías and Neemias, which travels well in bilingual families.
- Well-worn short forms already exist — Miah, Nem — so the full four syllables are never the only option.
- Familiar in sound without being common in practice: it sits comfortably beside Isaiah and Josiah while rarely doubling up in a classroom.
- Four syllables and an unusual letter run mean a lifetime of spelling it out; Nehemia, Nehamiah and Nehemaiah are all plausible misfires from people who have only heard it.
- The biblical tie is direct and unmistakable, which some families want and others would rather not foreground.
- Its use in the US is concentrated in recent decades, so most bearers are still young — an adult Nehemiah is less often encountered than a schoolchild one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Nehemiah to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Nehemiah? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Nehemiah
Masculine · #429 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nehemiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 21,000 people named Nehemiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nehemiah in 2025?
- Nehemiah ranks #429 among US boy names in 2025, with 743 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nehemiah?
- About 1 in every 2,299 US boys born in 2025 was named Nehemiah — 743 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nehemiah with classmates?
- Nehemiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nehemiah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pablo#429 · Wilder#429 · Lian#428 · Tadeo#427 · Isaias#426 · Raiden#432 · Lucca#425 · Lewis#433
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nehemiah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nehemiah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle