Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: biblicalIn Israel: falling
OvadiaIn Hebrew: עובדיה · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: עֹבַדְיָהRomanization: Ovadyá
Ovadia (Hebrew: עובדיה) is a boy's name of biblical origin. 3,102 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 45 boys and ranked #309. Its peak year was 2014, with 231 babies.
- People in Israel
- 3,102
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 45
- rank #309
- Peak year
- 2014
- 231 babies
- USA
- —
- not in the SSA list
Writing and saying Ovadia
In Hebrew letters the name is עובדיה, read right to left. Ovadia is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "Ovadyá" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- Obadiah (a book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh)
- Obadiah (a minor prophet)
- a male given name, equivalent to English Obadiah
From עוֹבֵד (ovéd, “servant, worshipper”) + יָהּ (Yah, “Jah”, one of the names of God), literally “servant of Yahweh”. Compare Arabic عَبْد الله (ʕabd allāh).
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Ovadia by year in Israel
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Ovadia
How do you write Ovadia in Hebrew?
Ovadia is written עובדיה in Hebrew (with vowel points: עֹבַדְיָה). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "Ovadyá".
How many people in Israel are named Ovadia?
3,102 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name עובדיה: 0 women and 3,102 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Ovadia a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 100.0% of the people named עובדיה are men.
What does the name Ovadia mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "Obadiah (a book of the Old Testament of the Bible, and of the Tanakh)" Etymology: From עוֹבֵד (ovéd, “servant, worshipper”) + יָהּ (Yah, “Jah”, one of the names of God), literally “servant of Yahweh”. Compare Arabic عَبْد الله (ʕabd allāh).
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.