Messiah

How to say it

/məˈsaɪ.ə/

What it means

Hebrew Mashiach, 'anointed one,' originally referring to anointed kings and priests, later the awaited savior of Jewish prophecy. In Christian tradition the title applied to Jesus; the Greek translation gives Christos (Christ).

Messiah comes from the Hebrew Mashiach (Aramaic Meshiha), meaning 'anointed one.' In ancient Israel kings and priests were anointed with oil at consecration; the title later applied to the awaited deliverer of Jewish prophecy. In Christian theology the title applies to Jesus of Nazareth, and the Greek translation Christos gives the English Christ. As a given name Messiah is modern and American. It entered the US top 500 in 2010 and the top 200 by 2018, with the rise driven partly by hip-hop culture. There was a 2013 Tennessee custody dispute where a judge attempted to bar the name (the ruling was overturned), which gave it brief national news prominence. Common short: Sai.

Heads-up notes

• Pop culture

  Hip-hop culture is a meaningful driver of the name's rise from 2010 onward; the 2013 Tennessee 'no Messiah' custody ruling (overturned) gave the name a brief national news cycle.

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.

• Handel's Messiah Oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741

Spelling variants

• Messias
• Mashiach

Names with the same feeling

• Jeremiah Yahweh will exalt
• Isaiah Yahweh is salvation
• Elijah My God is Yahweh
• Zion Zion (the hill of Jerusalem)
• King King, ruler

See Messiah from another angle