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Shem Tov · Hebrew names

Boy's nameOrigin: biblicalIn Israel: steady

YehudaIn Hebrew: יהודה · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel

With vowel points: יְהוּדָהRomanization: y'hudá

Yehuda (Hebrew: יהודה) is a boy's name of biblical origin. 40,092 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 1,141 boys and ranked #11. Its peak year was 2021, with 1,142 babies.

People in Israel
40,092
born 1949–2024
Babies in 2024
1,141
rank #11
Peak year
2021
1,142 babies
USA, 2025
351
rank #740

Writing and saying Yehuda

In Hebrew letters the name is יהודה, read right to left. Yehuda 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 "y'hudá" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).

Meaning and origin

  • a male given name, equivalent to English Judah, Judas, or Jude
  • a male given name, equivalent to English Judah, Judas, or Jude
  • Judah (the fourth son of Jacob, by his wife Leah; the father of Perez)
Compare Akkadian 𒆳𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 (ᴷᵁᴿia-u₂-da-a-a /⁠Yaudāya⁠/). Traditionally derived from יָדָה (yadá, “to praise”); alternatively, linked to Arabic وَهْدة (wahda, “ravine, gully, gulch, lowlands”).

Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.

Yehuda by year: Israel and abroad

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).

Yehuda: rate per 10,000, 1950–2025

per 10,000 babies of the same sex

Yehuda in English-speaking countries

Yehuda in each official list: latest year, count, rank and peak
Country / regionYearBabiesRankPeak
United States2025351#7402024 (365)
United Kingdom202526#1,1922006 (32)
England and Wales202526#1,1242006 (32)
Alberta20252#1,5712025 (2)

Counts for boys. The Hebrew page for Yehuda has every year and the other spellings.

Related Israeli names

Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.

Questions about Yehuda

How do you write Yehuda in Hebrew?

Yehuda is written יהודה in Hebrew (with vowel points: יְהוּדָה). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "y'hudá".

How many people in Israel are named Yehuda?

40,092 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name יהודה: 6 women and 40,086 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 Yehuda a boy's or a girl's name?

In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 100.0% of the people named יהודה are men.

What does the name Yehuda mean?

English Wiktionary describes it as: "a male given name, equivalent to English Judah, Judas, or Jude" Etymology: Compare Akkadian 𒆳𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 (ᴷᵁᴿia-u₂-da-a-a /⁠Yaudāya⁠/). Traditionally derived from יָדָה (yadá, “to praise”); alternatively, linked to Arabic وَهْدة (wahda, “ravine, gully, gulch, lowlands”).

Is Yehuda used outside Israel?

The name Yehuda appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 351 boys were given it in 2025 (#740), per the Social Security Administration. In the UK 26 in 2025 (ONS, NRS and NISRA combined).

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.

Abroad

Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.