How to say it
JAR · ed
/ˈdʒɛr.ɪd/
Masculine
Jared
Descent
What it means
Hebrew, 'descent' or 'he descends'; a patriarch in Genesis, the father of Enoch.
Jared comes from the Hebrew Yared, 'descent,' the name of a long-lived patriarch in Genesis and the father of Enoch. Quietly biblical for centuries, it surged in the US from the 1960s through the 1990s and reads cleanly of that era, carried now by actor and musician Jared Leto. Jarrod and Jarred are the common variant spellings.
Popularity over time
peaked at #51 in 1998, currently #396 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Spelling
Jared, Jarrod, and Jarred are all in use.
- Pop culture
A Genesis patriarch; in modern terms, Jared Leto.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Jared Leto American actor and musician
- Jared the Genesis patriarch, father of Enoch
Spelling variants
- Jarrod
- Jarred
- Jered
Names with the same feeling
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By style