Jeremiah

Jeremiah carries the voice of an Old Testament prophet, the one who wept over Jerusalem and gave English the word jeremiad for a long mournful lament. The Hebrew root is usually read as Yah will raise or exalt. It is a name with real lung capacity, four full syllables that refuse to be hurried, and it has held near the top 93 for American boys across the last few decades, beloved particularly in Black, Latino, and Southern Christian households. Jeremiah reads as deeply grounded and a little rhapsodic, the kind of name that suggests sermons, song lyrics, and the ability to sit quietly with something serious.