Zedekiah
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "the Lord is righteousness".
Name Census estimates that about 697 living Americans carry the first name Zedekiah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zedekiah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zedekiah births was 2019 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zedekiah. 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 Zedekiah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
697
~ 1 in 491,757 Americans
Peak year
2019
43 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,881
Tracked since 1982
Census
Zedekiah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 456 people with the first name Zedekiah, which placed it at #22,008 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
#22,008
National first-name rank
People counted
456
456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zedekiah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zedekiah is White at 35.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (20.4%). 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 Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.3% · 161
- Black or African American28.5% · 130
- Hispanic or Latino20.4% · 93
- Two or more races9.6% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 11
Popularity
Zedekiah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zedekiah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 306 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zedekiah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zedekiahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Zedekiah, while Tennessee, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zedekiah
The name Zedekiah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, and dates back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew words "tzedek" meaning "righteous" and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the name of the Hebrew God, Yahweh. The name can be translated to mean "Yahweh is righteous" or "the Lord is righteous."
Zedekiah is a name that appears frequently in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in the Books of Kings and Jeremiah. It was the name of the last king of Judah before the Babylonian exile, who reigned from around 597 to 586 BCE. The biblical account portrays Zedekiah as a weak and indecisive ruler who disobeyed the prophet Jeremiah's warnings, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zedekiah comes from the 6th century BCE, referring to the biblical king. However, the name likely existed earlier as a theophoric name, which was a common practice in ancient Hebrew culture, where names were often derived from the names of deities or incorporated attributes of the divine.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zedekiah. One of the most famous was Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw (1115-1199), a prominent French rabbi and scholar who lived during the Middle Ages. Another notable figure was Zedekiah ben Abraham Anaw (1671-1736), an Italian rabbi and kabbalist who lived in the 18th century.
In more recent times, Zedekiah Omungo (1940-2003) was a Kenyan politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Zedekiah Ngavirue (born 1954) is a Namibian politician and activist who played a significant role in the country's independence struggle.
Zedekiah Kitioni (1932-2012) was a Kenyan politician and activist who fought for the rights of the Maasai people and served as a member of parliament. Zedekiah Manika (1957-2015) was a South African politician and member of the African National Congress (ANC) who played a role in the country's transition to democracy.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Zedekiah throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Zedekiah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zedekiah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zedekiah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zedekiah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 697 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zedekiah 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 491,757 US residents.
Is Zedekiah a common name?
We classify Zedekiah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 704 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zedekiah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zedekiah was 2019, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zedekiah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Zedekiah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 456 people with the name Zedekiah, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,008 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 Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zedekiah leans strongly male. 445 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 11 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Zedekiah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zedekiah is White at 35.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (20.4%). 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 Zedekiah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Zedekiah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.3% (161 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 Zedekiah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zedekiah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah 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 Zedekiah?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Zedekiah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.