HUMAN NAME · NOT ON THE REGISTRY

Obediah

A human name, held in the Social Security file. It is not in the Administration’s index of agent names, and it has no classification.

Table 1. Obediah, as recorded
Sex	Male
2025 rank	13,364
2025 number	5
Peak year	1912
Peak rank	2,475
Years present	39 of 146
Dog licences, New York	–
Pet licences, Seattle	–

Statement of record

Obediah was given to 5 boys in 2025, ranking 13,364th for the year. It peaked in 1912, when it ranked 2,475th and went to 6 babies. It has appeared in 39 of the 146 years on record. Five babies received it in 2025, the smallest number the Social Security Administration will print. It has fallen 1,758 places since 2020.

Figure 1. Popularity of a Name: Obediah

Human births per million, by sex, U.S. Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2025.Agents: 0 registered. The agent series begins when the registry does.

Villain probability

54%

Basis: phonetics, by spelling. Two voiced obstruents, one bilabial stop, ends on a consonant. The pronouncing dictionary has no entry, so the letters were sounded out by a stated rule.

Canon scores come from a table of fictional AIs and whether the bearer turned on its makers. Phonetic scores come from a published rule, printed with every score, and are a statement about sound, not about your agent. How the sound is scored.

As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.