Nephtali
According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali was the sixth son of Jacob, the second of his two sons with Bilhah. He was the founder of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali.
Meaning & Origin of Nephtali
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali was the sixth son of Jacob, the second of his two sons with Bilhah. He was the founder of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Nephtali
Nephtali first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1964, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1975: 10 births, good for #3,428 nationwide. About 29% of every Nephtali on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. Nephtali last appeared in the published SSA data in 2017, with 7 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 132 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1960s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Nephtali
Phonetically similar names — useful when Nephtali is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Nephtali
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About the name Nephtali
Nephtali is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1964 and has accumulated 132 births in the dataset. Nephtali's peak popularity came in 1975 when it ranked #3,428. Use the chart and map above to compare Nephtali's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1975 →
- Names of the 1970s →
- Names starting with "N" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.