Masiah
A feminine name derived from the Arabic word "masiah" meaning "walker" or "wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 1,254 living Americans carry the first name Masiah. It is a predominantly male name (90.3% of registrations). The average person named Masiah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Masiah births was 2022 (105 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Masiah. 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.
Key insights
- • Masiah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 273,329 Americans
Peak year
2022
105 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,580
Tracked since 1997
Census
Masiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 663 people with the first name Masiah, which placed it at #16,857 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,857
National first-name rank
People counted
663
663 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Masiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Masiah is Black at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.0%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Masiah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Masiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American75.4% · 500
- Hispanic or Latino14.0% · 93
- Two or more races6.6% · 44
- White2.7% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Masiah
Masiah leans heavily male at 90.3% of total registrations, but 122 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Masiah as a male name
- Ranked #2,580 in 2024
- 52 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (105 births)
Masiah as a female name
- Ranked #12,050 in 2019
- 8 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2009 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Masiah leans strongly male. 553 people counted with this name were male (83.7%), compared with 108 female bearers (16.3%).
Popularity
Masiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Masiah 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 678 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Masiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Masiah 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 Masiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Masiahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Masiah, while Missouri, New Jersey, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Masiah
The name Masiah is believed to have its origins in ancient Hebrew and Arabic cultures. It is derived from the Hebrew word "mashiah," which means "anointed one" or "messiah." The name has strong religious connotations and is often associated with the concept of a savior or redeemer.
In the Hebrew Bible, the term "mashiah" is used to refer to individuals who were anointed with oil, signifying their selection for a sacred role or position. This practice was common for kings, priests, and prophets. The name Masiah may have been given to individuals with a perceived divine calling or those destined for greatness.
The earliest recorded use of the name Masiah can be traced back to ancient Jewish and Christian texts. In the New Testament, the name appears as "Messiah," referring to Jesus Christ, who was believed to be the promised Savior of humanity. This association with the Messiah figure has contributed to the name's enduring significance in various religious traditions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Masiah. One of the earliest was Masiah ben Joseph, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 3rd century CE and authored works on halakha (Jewish law). Another prominent figure was Masiah al-Qurtubi, an influential 10th-century Muslim scholar and theologian from Cordoba, Spain.
In the 16th century, Masiah ben Israel, also known as Manasseh Ben Israel, was a renowned Jewish writer, scholar, and advocate for the readmission of Jews to England. His works played a crucial role in shaping the discourse on religious tolerance and Jewish rights.
During the 17th century, Masiah Montefiore was an Italian-born Jewish philanthropist and financier who dedicated his life to improving the lives of Jewish communities worldwide. He is remembered for his humanitarian efforts and advocacy for Jewish rights.
Another notable figure was Masiah Judah Navon, an 18th-century Jewish scholar and kabbalist from Morocco. He authored several influential works on Jewish mysticism and was revered for his spiritual wisdom.
While these are just a few examples, the name Masiah has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and eras, each leaving their mark on history through their contributions to various fields, including religion, scholarship, literature, and humanitarian endeavors.
People
Masiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Masiah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Masiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Masiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Masiah 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 273,329 US residents.
Is Masiah a common name?
We classify Masiah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,264 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Masiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Masiah was 2022, when 105 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Masiah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Masiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 663 people with the name Masiah, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,857 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Masiah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Masiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Masiah leans strongly male. 553 people counted with this name were male (83.7%), compared with 108 female bearers (16.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Masiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Masiah is Black at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.0%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Masiah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Masiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (500 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Masiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Masiah a male name?
Yes, 90.3% of people registered as Masiah 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 Masiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Masiah 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 Masiah 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.
How many people have Masiah as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Masiah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.