Nehemiah

What Nehemiah means

Means “consolation of Yahweh”

From Hebrew נְחֶמְיָה (“consolation of Yahweh”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Nehemiah” (revision 93542513), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nehemiah?

US: Falling: down from #362 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #1024 in 2015, #1066 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2013, when 931 boys got the name (#343 that year). First in the US records in 1886.

How common

• About 1 in 2,299 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,712 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DE (1.7 per 1,000 boys), WV (0.97 per 1,000 boys), GA (0.88 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Nehemiah is #429 in the US and #1066 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.7% of US babies named Nehemiah were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Nehemia6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Nehemiah

Boys

• Jude#155possibly “praised”^*
• Josiah#54Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #54 vs #226 in 2025
• Micah#90“who is like Yahweh”^*
• Emmanuel#179Editor’s note Down from #151 in 2015 to #179 in 2025 in the US
• Eli#104“ascent”^*
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*

For a sister

• Ava#11Editor’s note Down from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 210 US girls in the 2025 records
• Lilah#179Editor’s note Up from #314 in 2015 to #179 in 2025 in the US
• Sarai#424“master, chief”^*
• Selah#216“to hang”^*
• Azaria#638Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1988, with 6 babies
• Hadassah#569“myrtle”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nehemiah’s. Rank is US 2025.