Nahum is a name of Hebrew origin and it means "comforter" or "consoler". It comes from the Hebrew word "nacham", which means to be comforted or consoled. According to the Bible, Nahum was one of the twelve minor prophets whose prophecies are collected in the Book of Nahum.
The name Nahum is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, most notably as the author of the book that bears his name. In this book, Nahum predicts the fall of the Assyrian city of Nineveh, which was a powerful and feared empire at the time. Nahum's prophecies were fulfilled around 612 BCE, when Nineveh was conquered by the Babylonians.
The name Nahum is not particularly popular in many cultures today, but it has been used as a given name in some Jewish communities throughout history. It is sometimes used as a middle name or a name for a child named after a relative who bears this name.
Based on the statistics provided, the name Nahum has seen a significant increase in popularity over time in the United States. The first recorded birth of a child named Nahum was in 1918 with 7 births that year.
The number of births remained relatively low until the 1970s when we start seeing more than 10 births per year. In 1974, there were 10 births, which doubled to 21 births by 1989. This trend continued into the 1990s with a peak of 77 births in 2005.
After 2005, the popularity of the name Nahum stabilized around an average of about 60-80 births per year, peaking at 85 births in 2007. This level of popularity has been maintained until recent years with 70 births recorded in 2023.
In total, there have been 2075 births of children named Nahum in the United States since 1918. This data reflects a steady increase in the popularity of this name over time and suggests that it has become more commonly chosen for newborns in recent decades.