Gedalya
A masculine name from Hebrew meaning "YHWH is great/exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 192 living Americans carry the first name Gedalya. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gedalya today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gedalya births was 2022 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gedalya. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gedalya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
192
~ 1 in 1,785,179 Americans
Peak year
2022
18 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,915
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Gedalya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gedalya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 79 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gedalya by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gedalya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gedalyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gedalya
The name Gedalya originates from the Hebrew language and has its roots in ancient Jewish culture. It is derived from the Hebrew name "Gedalyahu," which means "Yahweh is great." The name can be traced back to biblical times, with the earliest recorded mention appearing in the Book of Jeremiah.
In the Book of Jeremiah, Gedalya is the name of a prominent Jewish leader who was appointed as the governor of Judah by the Babylonians after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. This historical figure played a crucial role in the aftermath of the Babylonian conquest, attempting to maintain order and stability among the remaining Jewish population.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Gedalya was Gedalya ben Ahikam, the aforementioned governor of Judah during the Babylonian period. He was assassinated in 586 BCE, an event that is recorded in the Book of Jeremiah.
Throughout Jewish history, the name Gedalya has been associated with various prominent figures. One notable example is Gedalya ibn Yahya, a renowned 11th-century Jewish philosopher and poet from Spain, who was born in 1038 CE and died in 1096 CE.
Another influential figure with the name Gedalya was Gedalya Lipkin Salanter, a prominent 19th-century Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder of the Musar movement, a ethical and spiritual revival movement within Orthodox Judaism. He was born in 1796 and passed away in 1879.
In more recent times, Gedalya Shahor, an Israeli author and playwright, gained recognition for his works exploring Jewish identity and the experiences of immigrants in Israel. He was born in 1939 and died in 2012.
Gedalya Aharon, an influential Israeli rabbi and scholar, was also a notable figure. Born in 1910 and passing away in 2011, he was known for his vast knowledge of Jewish law and his contributions to the field of Talmudic studies.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Gedalya throughout history, highlighting its rich heritage and significance within the Jewish tradition.
People
Gedalya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gedalya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gedalya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gedalya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 192 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gedalya going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,785,179 US residents.
Is Gedalya a common name?
We classify Gedalya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gedalya most popular?
The single biggest year for Gedalya was 2022, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gedalya is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gedalya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gedalya a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gedalya in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gedalya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gedalya in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gedalya can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Gedalya?
Want to know how many people share the name Gedalya? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.