Cephas vs Cephus
American parents have registered 1,009 Cephuses since 1880, against 930 Cephases. But in 2025 it was Cephas that was commoner, 19 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Cephas Cephus
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 114 years in which either name was published, Cephus for 74 years and Cephas for 40 years. The lead changed hands 29 times.
- 1900–1918 Cephus ahead
- 1919–1921 Cephas ahead
- 1922–1972 Cephus ahead, apart from 4 short spells
- 1973–1975 Cephas ahead
- 1981–1983 Cephus ahead
- 2003–2025 Cephas ahead
20 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Cephas | Cephus | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 930 | 1,009 |
| Most in one year | 23 | 30 |
| Babies in 2025 | 19 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 470 | 390 |
| Median age today | 36 | 64 |
| Peak year | 1921 | 1922 |
| Best rank | 1,588th boys | 1,333rd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,045th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1898 | 1888 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 930 | 0 / 1,009 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Cephuses alive today are over 64; half the Cephases are over 36. That is 28 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Cephas and Cephus.