NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Jeremiah

A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "exalted by the Lord".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Jeremiah is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Jeremiah popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #346, with 126 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2016, with 201 births.

This profile covers 2,865 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 63% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 2,885 living people in the UK are called Jeremiah. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Jeremiah ranked #346 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 126 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2016, when 201 boys were registered as Jeremiah.
  • Jeremiah ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #382 in 2024.
  • About 2,885 living people in the UK are estimated to have Jeremiah as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#346

2024

Births in 2024

126

Latest year

Peak year

2016

201 births

Estimated living

2,885

2026

Meaning

What does Jeremiah mean?

The name Jeremiah originated from the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yirmeyahu, which means "Yahweh has uplifted" or "appointed by Yahweh." The name dates back to ancient times, around the 7th century BC.

Jeremiah was the name of one of the major prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He lived during the late 7th and early 6th centuries BC, before and during the Babylonian exile. The Book of Jeremiah, which records his prophecies and lamentations, is part of the Old Testament.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jeremiah is found in the Hebrew Bible, referring to the prophet himself. However, the name was likely in use before that time, as it follows a common pattern of Hebrew names incorporating the name of God (Yahweh).

Throughout history, there have been several notable figures named Jeremiah. One of the most famous was Jeremiah of Libnah, a Jewish scholar and scribe who lived in the 9th century AD. He is known for his work in preserving and transmitting the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible.

Another prominent figure was Jeremiah Horrocks, an English astronomer who lived from 1619 to 1641. He is best known for being the first person to predict and observe the transit of Venus across the sun's disc in 1639.

Jeremiah Denton was an American naval aviator and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He was born in 1924 and famously blinked "torture" in Morse code during a televised interview in 1966, revealing the mistreatment of American prisoners of war.

Jeremiah Massey was an African American educator and civil rights activist who lived from 1828 to 1900. He was a prominent figure in the struggle for equal education rights for African Americans in the post-Civil War era.

Jeremiah Horrocks, the English astronomer mentioned earlier, was also a notable mathematician and theologian. He made significant contributions to the understanding of planetary motion and the development of calculus.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Jeremiah over time

The chart below shows babies named Jeremiah registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Jeremiah, the clearest high point is 2016. The latest England and Wales figure is 126 births in 2024, compared with 201 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Jeremiah
050101151201199620102024

Decades

Jeremiah by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Jeremiah was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #334 663 5
2010s #311 1,509 10
2000s #499 585 10
1990s #636 108 4

Geography

Where Jeremiah is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Jeremiah. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Jeremiah ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #382 in 2024.

Scotland
9
Northern Ireland
3

Across the UK

Jeremiah in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#382 in 2024

8 years of NRS records, 35 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#415 in 2017

1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Jeremiah

  • Jeremiah McCarthy

    rower

    British rower

    1941-

  • Jeremiah Harman

    judge

    English high court judge; (1930-2021)

    1930-2021

  • Jeremiah Newman

    Catholic bishop; Catholic priest; sociologist

    Catholic priest; b. 1926

    1926-1995

  • Jeremiah Kelly

    association football player

    British association football player (1900-1962)

    1900-1962

  • Jeremiah McVeagh

    politician; barrister

    Irish politician (1870-1932)

    1870-1932

  • Jeremiah Driver

    cricketer

    English county cricketer (1861-1946)

    1861-1946

  • Jeremiah O'Connor

    Catholic priest; academic administrator

    Irish-American Jesuit educator (1841–1891)

    1841-1891

  • Jeremiah Joseph Callanan

    poet

    Irish poet

    1795-1829

Related

Names similar to Jeremiah

FAQ

Jeremiah: questions and answers

How popular is the name Jeremiah in the UK right now?

In 2024, Jeremiah was ranked #346 for boys in England and Wales, with 126 births registered.

When was Jeremiah most popular?

The peak year on record was 2016, with 201 babies registered as Jeremiah in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Jeremiah?

A masculine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "exalted by the Lord".

How many people are called Jeremiah in the UK?

A total of 2,865 babies have been registered as Jeremiah across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 35 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Jeremiah most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Jeremiah ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #382 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.