Fun Facts About the Name Lehi
- 357 babies named Lehi: U.S. records list 357 babies given the name Lehi from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Lehi Mean?
Lehi is a Hebrew name. In the Hebrew Bible it appears as a place name, and the Hebrew word leḥi (לְחִי) means "jaw" or "jawbone." It comes from the root l-ḥ-y, which has to do with the jaw, and in the Bible it is used for a location rather than for a person.
As a personal name, Lehi is best known from the Book of Mormon, where Lehi is a prophet. That text gives no explanation of the name, so its meaning as a personal name has to be inferred. Some have connected it to the same Hebrew word for "jawbone." Others link it to the element laḥai in the place name Beer-lahai-roi (Genesis 16:14), which is usually understood as "the living one" or "the one who lives." Because the derivation is not stated anywhere in the text and the proposals compete, the meaning of Lehi as a personal name is uncertain.
Lehi Name History & Origins
The earliest documented use of Lehi is as a place name in the Hebrew Bible. In Judges 15, Samson fights the Philistines at a place called Lehi and strikes down a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. Afterward the site is called Ramath-lehi, and the spring there is named En-hakkore. The story turns on the word for jawbone, which fits the name of the place.
Lehi as a personal name appears in the Book of Mormon, first published in 1830, where Lehi is the first prophet in the narrative and leads his family out of Jerusalem. The book does not explain the name or say where it came from, and it presents Lehi alongside other personal names that resemble Hebrew forms.
The name was later given to Lehi, a city in Utah settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1850s and named for the Book of Mormon figure.
How Popular is the Name Lehi?
Lehi has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2005. Its best rank was #4,327 in 1986.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,646 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2024 | #10,459 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #13,366 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2022 | #10,418 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #8,460 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #13,313 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #8,557 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2017 | #13,457 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #6,970 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2015 | #6,549 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2014 | #10,283 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #6,478 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2012 | #9,370 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2011 | #7,303 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #8,521 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2009 | #10,553 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #10,580 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #7,407 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #8,462 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #5,464 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2004 | #10,800 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #7,037 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2002 | #5,292 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2001 | #6,271 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #11,462 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #8,370 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #9,919 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #6,213 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #5,302 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1993 | #8,253 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #5,332 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #8,949 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1989 | #8,688 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1988 | #8,015 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #4,327 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1985 | #6,223 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #6,037 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #4,348 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1982 | #6,949 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #5,949 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #5,779 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #6,372 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #5,547 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #5,331 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #5,553 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Lehi Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You always bring to completion anything you start. You are generous but like to see returns from your giving. You have an executive ability, you are a leader. You are moral, balanced, honest and intellectual, and you may attain spirituality. You are wise and practical with an appreciation of beauty. You always think before you act. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Lehi's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Lehi's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.