Given name
Uriah
“God is light”·“The Lord is my light”
Uriah is used as a given name. Interpretations include “God is light” (Hebrew) and “The Lord is my light” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Hebrewאוריה
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “God is light” (Hebrew) and “The Lord is my light” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
How it developed
From Biblical Hebrew אוּרִיָּה ('ūriyyā, “God is my light”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
The name appears in biblical tradition, giving it a longstanding religious and cultural context.
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Uriah appears in 2 Samuel 11:11, 2 Samuel 23:35, Matthew 1:6 and 2 other passages.
- 2 Samuel 11:11
- 2 Samuel 23:35
- Matthew 1:6
- 2 Kings 16:10
- Ezra 8:33
From biblical name research
Uriah through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 12,992
- 12,077 boys · 915 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 592 babies
- 2025
- 457
- #650 for boys · #4,657 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −16%
- Easing
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 95% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 427 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 650 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 16.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 559 in 2014. It also appeared in 30 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (56). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 8,415 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.
Uriah’s family of names
In English usage, Uriah has a diminutive in Ury. Uriah has a related form in Uri. Uriah has a related form in Urias.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Uriah has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 10
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Urijahvariant · English
- Urivariant
- Uriyahvariant
- Uriasvariant
- Uriavariant · Italian
- Urriahlikely variant
- Urydiminutive · English
- Uriyavariant
Show 2 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 7
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Uriah
- Uriah SheltonAmerican actor and singerborn 1997
- Uriah HallJamaican mixed martial arts (MMA) fighterborn 1984
- Uriah RennieEnglish football referee (1959–2025)
- Uriah TracyAmerican politician (1755-1807)
- Uriah SmithAmerican Seventh-day Adventist minister (1832–1903)
- Uriah GrantJamaican boxerborn 1961
- Urie McClearyart director (1905-1980)
- Uriah P. LevyUnited States commodore (1792–1862)
- Uriah ForrestAmerican politician (1756–1805)
Characters named Uriah: Uriah Heep (David Copperfield).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Uriah, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Abel
“the life force; breath”
>99% boys
Ozias
“power of Yah” · “Yah is strong”
>99% boys
Eli
“one who has ascended; my God on high”
99% boys · 1% girls
Jeremiah
“appointed by God” · “one who is exalted by the Lord”
>99% boys
Tobias
“The Lord is good”
>99% boys
Elnathan
“God has given”
>99% boys
Isaiah
“God is salvation” · “God is my salvation”
>99% boys
Emmanuel
“God is with us”
>99% boys