Messiah
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Meaning
"anointed one"
The story
Messiah is the boldest kind of name a family can give, the Hebrew mashiach, the anointed one, taken straight from theology to the birth certificate. It is genuinely new as an American name: 41 babies in the 1970s, about 350 in the 1990s, 2,500 in the 2000s, then 13,400 in the 2010s and 11,700 so far this decade. It belongs to the same rising register as King, Saint and Sincere, names that state a hope out loud rather than encode it. The name made national news in 2013 when a Tennessee judge ordered one baby's Messiah changed; the ruling was overturned, the judge was removed from the case, and the name kept climbing. Our records file it overwhelmingly with boys, about 27,100 to 1,000. Families who choose it are not being subtle, and that is precisely the point.
How popular is Messiah around the world?
In the United States, 11,734 babies were named Messiah between 2020 and 2025.
Messiah is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 1,900
In the United States, 11,734 babies were named Messiah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Messiah peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 22,000
In Canada, 17 boys named Messiah were born in 2024, ranked 1,331st among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 49,000
In England and Wales, 12 boys named Messiah were born in 2025, ranked 2,014th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 2014
Messiah is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Messiah
Most people given the name Messiah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Messiah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Messiah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Messiah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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