Seth

What Seth means

Means “chosen one, appointed, placed”

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Σήθ (Sḗth), from Biblical Hebrew שֵׁת (Šet, literally “chosen one, appointed, placed”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Seth” (revision 94543418), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Seth?

US: Falling: down from #270 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #93 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2000, when 6,717 boys got the name (#63 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,382 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,743 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,928 baby boys in Scotland 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 IN (0.85 per 1,000 boys), MS (0.74 per 1,000 boys), OR (0.73 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Seth is #581 in the US and #294 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Seth 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

• South6 US
• Zeth5 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Set
• Sutekh

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Seth

Boys

• Jacob#43“May He Heel”^*
• Ruben#480Editor’s note Down from #374 in 2015 to #480 in 2025 in the US
• Johnathan#508Variant of Jonathan, meaning “God has given”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Joshua#66“to save”^*
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*

For a sister

• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*
• Jordan#584Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #262 in 2015, #584 in 2025
• Elisabeth#925“my God is an oath”^*
• Gabriela#317Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 3,362 babies; 961 in 2025

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 Seth’s. Rank is US 2025.