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Jed

#1,999 in 2025Boys' name

Beloved of Yahweh, through Jedidiah

Jed has been given to 8,945 babies in the U.S. since 1913. In 2025 it ranked #1,999 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1978, with 282 recorded.

Babies named Jed, 2025

1 in 43,600

Jed over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jed: meaning, origin, and history

Beloved of Yahweh, through Jedidiah

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Jed means

Jed belongs to the name family reached through Jed → Jedidiah. Its meaning is “beloved of Yahweh”.

Origin, language, and formation

Jed is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Jedidiah.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Jed is pronounced /d͡ʒɛd/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 8,945 boys were recorded with the name Jed between 1913 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 282 in 1978; its best national rank was #484 in 1978.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,666 in 2020 to #1,999 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,923 in 2015 to #1,999 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Jed?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 43,600
76 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 22,500
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,999
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
30,237 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jed sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 30,237 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jed. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jeds were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jed was born before 1979 — so the typical Jed is around 46 today.

Median birth year
1979
About 46 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
21.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
20.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
8,395
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 21.8% of all recorded uses (1,950).

Is Jed rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−10
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−333
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−76
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
27.0%
Peak was 1978 (282)
Years since peak
47
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#484
1978

Where Jed is used

Across 2016–2025, Jed was most concentrated in Tennessee — about 1 in 16,667 boys, against 1 in 48,909 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

16 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Tennessee1 in 16,667
  2. 2Texas1 in 25,000
  3. 3Illinois1 in 33,333
  4. 4Ohio1 in 33,333
  5. 5Washington1 in 33,333
  6. 6Georgia1 in 50,000
  7. 7Missouri1 in 50,000
  8. 8Wisconsin1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Jed around the world

Where Jed ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #2,014
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1980–2019
    #701
    in 2019
  • Northern Ireland
    2002–2015
    #415
    in 2015
  • Ireland
    1998–2025
    #829
    in 2025
  • France
    1979–2025
    #1,473
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #1,459
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1958–2013
    #115
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Jed

People whose public names include Jed, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Jed by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,999
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 333
Best rank ever
#484
1978
Peak year
1978
282 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
8,945
Count in 2025
76

Names similar to Jed

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JeddJedidiahJediJediahJedediahMajedJedaiahJedrekJedrickJedsonJedadiahSajedJedielAmjedJedrikJediaelJedenJedricJedadiaJeddieJedikiahJedariusJedriel

Names with a curve like Jed

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Jed, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

RodrickBrantWilfredoDonnellChetErichReggieAndreaEdwardoJacquesDonellLamont

Sibling names for Jed

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jed

Top names of 1978, Jed's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1978Boys' names starting with J