Menachem
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "comforter" or "one who comforts".
Name Census estimates that about 6,708 living Americans carry the first name Menachem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Menachem today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Menachem births was 2014 (212 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Menachem. 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 Menachem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.7K
~ 1 in 51,096 Americans
Peak year
2014
212 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,063
Tracked since 1948
Census
Menachem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,807 people with the first name Menachem, which placed it at #4,031 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
#4,031
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,807 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Menachem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menachem is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.2%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Menachem 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 Menachem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.0% · 4,664
- Black or African American1.2% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 24
- Two or more races0.4% · 18
Popularity
Menachem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Menachem from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,880 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Menachem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Menachem 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 Menachem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Menachems live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Menachem, while Ohio, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 490 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Menachem
The name Menachem originates from the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew root word "nacham," which means "to comfort" or "to console." The name carries the meaning of "comforter" or "one who consoles."
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Menachem appears in several instances. One notable reference is in the Book of Kings, where Menachem is mentioned as the king of Israel who reigned from around 742 to 737 BCE. He is described as a brutal ruler who secured his throne through violence.
Another significant figure bearing the name Menachem is the famous Jewish scholar and commentator, Menachem Meiri, who lived in the 13th century. He is renowned for his comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, known as the "Beit HaBechirah."
In the realm of Hasidic Judaism, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was a prominent figure who led the Chabad-Lubavitch movement from 1950 until his passing in 1994. He was widely respected for his teachings and his efforts to revitalize and spread Jewish education and observance worldwide.
Another notable figure was Menachem Begin, an Israeli politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. He served from 1977 to 1983 and was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 for his efforts in achieving the Camp David Accords with Egypt.
Menachem Av Sholom, a Polish-born Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Kamarna Hasidic dynasty, lived from 1883 to 1936. He was known for his wisdom and his influence on the Hasidic community in Poland and Ukraine.
It is important to note that while the name Menachem has its roots in ancient Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has also been adopted and used in various other cultures and communities around the world, carrying its meaning of "comforter" or "one who consoles."
Notable bearers
Famous people named Menachem
People
Menachem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Menachem 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
Menachem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Menachem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,708 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Menachem 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 51,096 US residents.
Is Menachem a common name?
We classify Menachem as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Menachem most popular?
The single biggest year for Menachem was 2014, when 212 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Menachem is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Menachem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,807 people with the name Menachem, or 1.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,031 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 Menachem 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 Menachem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Menachem appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,810 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Menachem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menachem is White at 97.0%. The next largest groups are Black (1.2%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Menachem most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Menachem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (4,664 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 Menachem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Menachem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Menachem 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 Menachem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Menachem 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 Menachem 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 are named Menachem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.