Nazareth
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "consecrated, dedicated, vowed".
Name Census estimates that about 2,228 living Americans carry the first name Nazareth. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Nazareth today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nazareth births was 2023 (156 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nazareth. 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 Nazareth with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Nazareth sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Nazareth is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,839 Americans
Peak year
2023
156 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,019
Tracked since 1920
Census
Nazareth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,665 people with the first name Nazareth, which placed it at #8,664 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
#8,664
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nazareth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nazareth is Hispanic at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.7%) and White (15.0%). 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 Nazareth 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 Nazareth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino60.6% · 1,009
- Black or African American16.7% · 278
- White15.0% · 250
- Two or more races4.2% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Nazareth
Nazareth is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,283 total registrations, 1,151 (50.4%) were male and 1,132 (49.6%) were female.
Nazareth as a male name
- Ranked #2,727 in 2024
- 48 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (50 births)
Nazareth as a female name
- Ranked #2,019 in 2024
- 97 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (107 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nazareth on both sides of the split. Of the 1,668 people counted with this name, 805 were male (48.3%) and 863 were female (51.7%).
Popularity
Nazareth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nazareth from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 788 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
Nazareth 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 Nazareth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nazareths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nazareth, while Georgia, Arizona, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nazareth
The name Nazareth originates from the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, derived from the place name "Nazareth" which means "town" or "village." The name is associated with the biblical city of Nazareth in Galilee, where Jesus Christ is said to have grown up according to the New Testament.
The name Nazareth is first mentioned in the Bible, specifically in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is closely tied to the life of Jesus, who is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" or "the Nazarene." The name gained significance due to its connection with Christianity and the life of Jesus.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nazareth can be found in the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who lived in the 1st century AD. He referred to the town of Nazareth in his works, indicating that it was a small village during the time of Jesus.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nazareth, although it is not a common given name. One of the most famous individuals with this name is Saint Nazarius (circa 258-304 AD), a Christian martyr who was beheaded during the Diocletianic Persecution in Milan.
Another notable figure is Nazareth Paul Obadiah (1826-1900), a prominent American educator and abolitionist who established several schools for African Americans in the post-Civil War era.
In the 20th century, Nazareth Faderlick (1911-1985) was a Ukrainian-American painter and printmaker known for her avant-garde artwork and association with the New York City art scene.
Nazareth Berrill (1923-2010) was a British zoologist and marine biologist who made significant contributions to the study of invertebrate embryology and development.
Nazareth Tañón (born 1976) is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, known for her contributions to Latin pop and urban music genres.
It is important to note that while the name Nazareth is rooted in biblical and historical contexts, its usage as a given name has been relatively rare throughout history, likely due to its strong association with the place name and its religious significance.
People
Nazareth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nazareth as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nazareth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nazareth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nazareth 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 153,839 US residents.
Is Nazareth a common name?
We classify Nazareth as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,283 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nazareth most popular?
The single biggest year for Nazareth was 2023, when 156 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nazareth is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nazareth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,665 people with the name Nazareth, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,664 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 Nazareth 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 Nazareth?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nazareth on both sides of the split. Of the 1,668 people counted with this name, 805 were male (48.3%) and 863 were female (51.7%). 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 Nazareth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nazareth is Hispanic at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.7%) and White (15.0%). 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 Nazareth most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nazareth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (1,009 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 Nazareth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nazareth a male name?
Yes, 50.4% of people registered as Nazareth 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 Nazareth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nazareth 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 Nazareth 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 common is the name Nazareth?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Nazareth on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.