Gideon
Top 1000
About Gideon
Gideon is a no-longer neglected Old Testament name, but still makes an excellent choice for parents looking to move beyond such overused biblicals as Benjamin and Jacob. In the Old Testament, Gideon was a judge called on by God to rescue the Jews from the Midianites, and the name was popular among the Puritans.
Gideon was given a spike by the short-lived TV series Gideon's Crossing, and has been heard more recently as a main character in Criminal Minds, as Molly Weasley's brother Gideon Prewett in the Harry Potter series, and as an anti-hero, Gideon Gordon Graves, in the Scott Pilgrim series.
The ubiquitous, in-every-hotel-room Gideon bibles were named because Gideon symbolizes great work done by few people.
Among the celebs who have chosen Gideon for their sons are Neil Patrick Harris and Ziggy Marley.
Pronounced GID-ee-un.
As of October 2026, Gideon ranked #337 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #304 in 2017, Nameberry popularity #188.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #348 | 944 | 491.4 |
| 2015 | #327 | 1,055 | 550.4 |
| 2016 | #336 | 1,034 | 544.9 |
| 2017 | #304 | 1,161 | 627.2 |
| 2018 | #308 | 1,108 | 610.1 |
| 2019 | #320 | 1,042 | 580.8 |
| 2020 | #321 | 1,031 | 597.3 |
| 2021 | #308 | 1,081 | 617.9 |
| 2022 | #330 | 1,024 | 586.5 |
| 2023 | #318 | 1,047 | 612.1 |
| 2024 | #331 | 1,042 | 604.8 |
| 2025 | #337 | 993 | 581.4 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gideon.
- Abel
- Reuben
- Phineas
- Tobias
- Amos
- Malcolm
- Cedric
- Desmond
- Leon
- Julian
- Thaddeus
- Vincent
- Augustus
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- Samson
- Benedict
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- Simon
Gideon on lists
Famous Gideons
- Gideon
Biblical judge
- Gideon Emery
British actor
- Gideon Yago
American MTV news anchor and writer
- Gideon Lee Yu
American businessman and football team owner
- Gideon Hausner
Israeli jurist and politician
- Gideon Ariel
Israeli biomechanic and athlete
- Gideon Levy
Israeli journalist and author
- Gideon Baah
Ghanaian footballer
- Gideon Gardner
U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
- Gideon Barstow
U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts
- Gideon Welles
24th U.S. Secretary of the Navy
- Gideon Lee
U.S. Congressman from New York; 60th Mayor of New York City
- Gideon Coe
British radio personality
- Gideon Algernon Mantell
English paleontologist who discovered Iguanadon
- Gideon Babe Ruth Howard
son of actors Debra Winger and Arliss Howard
- Gideon Scott Burtka
Harris (b. 2010), son of actors Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka; twin of sister Harper Grace
- Clarence Gideon
criminal defendant whose appeal led to Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright
- Gideon Martyn Forsyth (b. 2018)
son of Joy,Anna (Duggar) and Austin Forsyth from "Counting On"
- Gideon Aroni
actor
- Gideon Adlon
actress and daughter of Pamela Adlon
Gideon in pop culture
- Gideon Prewett
character in the Harry Potter series; brother to Molly Weasley
- Gideon Pontipee
character in musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"
- Gideon Lightwood
character in Cassandra Clare's "The Infernal Devices" trilogy
- Gideon Reader
character in the Shapeshifter series
- Gideon
character in "Will Grayson, Will Grayson' by John Green and David Levithan
- Gideon Gleeful
character on Disney's animated series "Gravity Falls"
- Gideon Cahill
ancestor of the Cahill family in the 39 Clues series
- Gideon Seymour
character in The Time Travelers/Gideon the Cutpurse
- Gideon
mutant in X,Men comics
- Gideon
character on TV's "Charmed"
- Gideon
duck in British animated series "Gideon"
- Gideon Oliver Dobbs
main character in 1998 film "Gideon"
- Gideon Cross aka The Demon Hunter
comics character
- Gideon
captain of the guard for King Limhi in the Book of Mormon
- Gideon Cross
main character in Sylvia Day's Crossfire series
- Gideon
female AI on TV's "The Flash" and "Legends of Tomorrow"
- Gideon Grey
character in Disney's "Zootopia"
- Gideon de Villiers
character in the German Ruby Red novel trilogy by Kerstin Gier
- Gideon Reeves
character on TV's "APB"
- Jason Gideon
character on TV's 'Criminal Minds'
- Ben Gideon
main character on TV's "Gideon's Crossing"
- Abel Gideon
character on TV's "Hannibal"
- George Gideon of Scotland Yard
character in novels by John Creasey
- Gideon (bibles)
mentioned in the Beatles song "Rocky Raccoon"
- Gideon Altaire
character in James Gurney's series "Dinotopia"
- Gideon Graves
main villain of the Scott Pilgrim comics/movie
- Gideon Gemstone
character on TV’s “The Righteous Gemstones”