# Zephaniah (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/zephaniah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /zɛfəˈnaɪə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Zeph |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,857 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,380 / 477 (12% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 512, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew צְפַנְיָה (ts'fanyá).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 24 | 5,724 |
| 2012 | 15 | 8,206 |
| 2013 | 23 | 5,829 |
| 2014 | 18 | 6,982 |
| 2015 | 19 | 6,716 |
| 2016 | 28 | 4,987 |
| 2017 | 27 | 5,044 |
| 2018 | 19 | 6,515 |
| 2019 | 23 | 5,609 |
| 2020 | 19 | 6,321 |
| 2021 | 21 | 5,950 |
| 2022 | 13 | 8,532 |
| 2023 | 18 | 6,675 |
| 2024 | 14 | 7,963 |
| 2025 | 20 | 6,111 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 117 | 1,424 |
| 2012 | 117 | 1,427 |
| 2013 | 129 | 1,337 |
| 2014 | 123 | 1,388 |
| 2015 | 122 | 1,415 |
| 2016 | 144 | 1,274 |
| 2017 | 138 | 1,313 |
| 2018 | 152 | 1,227 |
| 2019 | 171 | 1,143 |
| 2020 | 125 | 1,397 |
| 2021 | 132 | 1,396 |
| 2022 | 119 | 1,522 |
| 2023 | 125 | 1,457 |
| 2024 | 144 | 1,339 |
| 2025 | 123 | 1,458 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3 | 5,785 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,709 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 1,600 |
| 2012 | 17 | 1,430 |
| 2013 | 18 | 1,339 |
| 2014 | 26 | 1,061 |
| 2015 | 22 | 1,186 |
| 2016 | 33 | 914 |
| 2017 | 26 | 1,097 |
| 2018 | 30 | 958 |
| 2019 | 31 | 929 |
| 2020 | 32 | 898 |
| 2021 | 29 | 1,004 |
| 2022 | 37 | 844 |
| 2023 | 40 | 814 |
| 2024 | 31 | 981 |
| 2025 | 24 | 1,197 |

## In other languages

- Catalan: Sofonies
- Chinese: 西番雅書 /西番雅书
- Czech: Sofoniáš
- Danish: Zefanias
- Dutch: Sefanja
- Estonian: Sefanja
- Finnish: Sefanja
- French: Sophonie
- German: Zephanja
- Greek: Σοφονίας
- Hebrew: צְפַנְיָה
- Hindi: सपन्याह
- Hungarian: Zofóniás
- Icelandic: Sefanía
- Indonesian: Zefanya
- Irish: Leabhar Zafainiá
- Italian: Sofonia
- Japanese: ゼパニヤ書
- Latin: Sophonias
- Latvian: Sofonija grāmata, Cefanjas grāmata

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.