Given name
Japheth
“formless expansion”
Japheth is a masculine given name from Middle English, ultimately from Hebrew.
Original Hebrewיפת
Meaning & origin
What it means
As a biblical name, Japheth means “formless expansion.”
From biblical name research
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Hebrew, although the derivation remains uncertain.
How it developed
From Middle English Jafeth, from Old English Iafeth, from Middle French Japhet, from Late Latin Iaphet, from Koine Greek Ἰάφεθ, from Hebrew יֶפֶת (yépheth).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1970. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Japheth through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,387
- 1,387 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 51 babies
- 2025
- 34
- #3,405 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −14%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 34 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,405 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 13.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 51 in 2007. In 2025, Pennsylvania had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,076 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Japheth’s family of names
Japheth has a related form in Jafet. Japheth has a related form in Japhet. Japheth has a related form in Jafeth.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Jafetvariant
- Jafethvariant
- Japhetvariant
- Jaifethvariant
- Jaefethvariant
- Jayfethvariant
- Jaiphethvariant
- Jaephethvariant
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Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Japheth
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Japheth, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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