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Zephaniah

Gender
Boy
Say it
zef-a-NY-a
Origin
Hebrew
UK rank, 2025
#1,257 for boys
US rank, 2025
#1,451 for boys

Zephaniah is a boys' name of Hebrew origin, meaning “God has hidden”. In 2025 it ranked 1,257th for boys in the UK (24 babies) and 1,451st for boys in the US (123 babies).

What does Zephaniah mean?

Hebrew

“God has hidden”

Zephaniah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible; Benjamin Zephaniah was a celebrated British poet.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Zephaniah a girl's or a boy's name?

Zephaniah is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 24 boys in the UK and 20 girls and 123 boys in the US.

How popular is Zephaniah in the UK?

Rank in 2025
1,257th among boys
Babies in 2025
24 about 1 in 12,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steady up 2% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 24 boys in the UK were named Zephaniah, making it the 1,257th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 981st. Its busiest year was 2023, with 40 boys.

2025 had fewer boys named Zephaniah than any year since 2015.

Half of all the boys named Zephaniah in the UK since 1996 were born between 2013 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.

Among boys in 2025, it was 1,196th in England and Wales.

2000Busiest: 40 in 20232025
Zephaniah in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
202524#1,257
202431#1,041
202340#874
202237#923
202129#1,085
202032#981
201931#1,016
201830#1,043
201726#1,170
201633#988
201522#1,268
201427#1,106
201319#1,398
201218#1,478
201114#1,697
201017#1,508
200915#1,582
20089#2,212
20078#2,337
200611#1,742
20057#2,292
20047#2,157
20035#2,574
20025#2,358
20015#2,326
20003#3,146

How popular is Zephaniah in the US?

Rank in 2025
1,451st among boys
Babies in 2025
123 about 1 in 14,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steady down 13% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 123 boys in the US were named Zephaniah, making it the 1,451st most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,390th. Its busiest year was 2019, with 171 boys. It first appears in the records in 1972. 20 girls were also named Zephaniah in 2025 (5,916th for girls).

Half of all the boys named Zephaniah in the US since 1880 were born between 2005 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 14% of the babies named Zephaniah in the US were girls.

1972Busiest: 171 in 20192025
Zephaniah in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
2025123#1,451
2024144#1,332
2023125#1,449
2022119#1,516
2021132#1,383
2020125#1,390
2019171#1,136
2018152#1,224
2017138#1,306
2016144#1,266
2015122#1,406
2014123#1,385
2013129#1,326
2012117#1,419
2011117#1,411
2010108#1,503
2009109#1,517
2008121#1,399
2007109#1,464
200691#1,596
200585#1,601
200475#1,698
200363#1,867
200266#1,741
200159#1,867
200068#1,677
199943#2,159
199852#1,868
199737#2,257
199641#2,068
199529#2,551
199429#2,551
199321#3,135
199211#4,864
199118#3,319
199018#3,303
198917#3,319
198811#4,157
198715#3,197
19869#4,453
19857#5,142
198411#3,698
19837#4,904
198211#3,690
198114#3,028
19807#4,938
19790–
19787#4,552
19778#4,162
19768#4,010
19757#4,307
19740–
19730–
19727#3,960

Nicknames for Zephaniah

Names like Zephaniah

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Zakariya, Ibrahim, Musa, Muhammad, Abdullah, Zayd, Azariah, Zakariyya, Mustafa, Zayan, Hamza, Ismail

More Hebrew names

Noah, Isabella, Elijah, James, Jack, Mia, Ava, Jude, Ezra, Benjamin, Isaac, Jacob, Ethan, Daniel, Samuel, Elias

Every Hebrew name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Zephaniah: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/zephaniah, updated 20 October 2026.