Zephaniah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has treasured".
Name Census estimates that about 3,667 living Americans carry the first name Zephaniah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Zephaniah today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zephaniah births was 2019 (193 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zephaniah. 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 Zephaniah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Zephaniah 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
3.7K
~ 1 in 93,470 Americans
Peak year
2019
193 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,339
Tracked since 1972
Census
Zephaniah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,360 people with the first name Zephaniah, which placed it at #6,711 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
#6,711
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zephaniah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zephaniah is Black at 42.6%. The next largest groups are White (26.1%) and Hispanic (14.7%). 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 Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.6% · 1,006
- White26.1% · 616
- Hispanic or Latino14.7% · 347
- Two or more races9.2% · 218
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 135
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 38
Gender
Gender distribution for Zephaniah
Zephaniah leans heavily male at 87.7% of total registrations, but 456 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Zephaniah as a male name
- Ranked #1,339 in 2024
- 143 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (170 births)
Zephaniah as a female name
- Ranked #7,933 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (28 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zephaniah leans strongly male. 2,082 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 277 female bearers (11.7%).
Popularity
Zephaniah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zephaniah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,529 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zephaniah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zephaniahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Zephaniah, while South Carolina, Oregon, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zephaniah
The name Zephaniah has its origins in ancient Hebrew, derived from the elements "tsaphan" meaning "to hide" or "to treasure", and "Yah" which is a shortened form of the Hebrew name for God. It roughly translates to "hidden by the Lord" or "treasured by God". The name dates back to the 7th century BCE, originating in the ancient Kingdom of Judah.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Zephaniah comes from the Book of Zephaniah in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. Zephaniah was a prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah and delivered prophecies about the coming Day of the Lord. His book is a collection of his teachings, warnings, and apocalyptic visions.
The name Zephaniah has been used throughout history by various individuals, including Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah as one of the officials who read the scroll containing Jeremiah's prophecies. Another notable bearer of the name was Zephaniah, a leader of the Korahites who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, as recorded in the Book of Nehemiah.
One of the earliest known individuals named Zephaniah was a 9th century BCE prince and son of King Cush of Ethiopia, mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. In the 16th century, Zephaniah Crespin was a Protestant reformer and martyr who was burned at the stake in France for his religious beliefs. Zephaniah Swift was an American lawyer, author, and legislator in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, known for his legal writings and work in codifying Connecticut's laws.
In the 19th century, Zephaniah Turner was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire and became a renowned coach and umpire. Zephaniah Kingsley was an influential plantation owner, businessman, and writer in Florida during the early 19th century, known for his advocacy of gradual emancipation and his relationships with women of African descent.
While the name Zephaniah has biblical and ancient roots, it has been used across various cultures and religions over time, reflecting its enduring appeal and timeless quality.
People
Zephaniah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zephaniah 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
Zephaniah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zephaniah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,667 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zephaniah 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 93,470 US residents.
Is Zephaniah a common name?
We classify Zephaniah as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,710 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zephaniah most popular?
The single biggest year for Zephaniah was 2019, when 193 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,360 people with the name Zephaniah, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,711 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 Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Zephaniah leans strongly male. 2,082 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 277 female bearers (11.7%). 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 Zephaniah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Zephaniah is Black at 42.6%. The next largest groups are White (26.1%) and Hispanic (14.7%). 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 Zephaniah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Zephaniah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.6% (1,006 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 Zephaniah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zephaniah a male name?
Yes, 87.7% of people registered as Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zephaniah 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 Zephaniah 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 share the name Zephaniah?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.