Phinehas

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Phinehas is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Phinehas serves as a negative example of priestly corruption and the severe consequences of disregarding God's holiness. His death and the subsequent loss of the Ark symbolize the withdrawal of divine glory from Israel due to the sins of its leadership.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• A biblical name implying zeal, protection, and oracle; it has seen occasional usage in Puritan and Jewish traditions but is rare in modern times.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• He represents the archetype of holy zeal (kanai) and the protector of the covenant's purity, rewarded by God with an everlasting priesthood.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• The Nubian; the dark-skinned one (derived from Egyptian pꜣ-nḥsy)

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, Any of a number of Old Testament men, including a son of Eli and a grandson of Aaron.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Phineas Whiteb. 1770USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician
• Phineas Parkhurst Quimbyb. 1802USnot in their usual nameAmerican writer (1802–1866)
• Abraham P. Grantb. 1804USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (1804-1871)
• P. T. Barnumb. 1810USnot in their usual nameAmerican showman and politician (1810–1891)
• Phineas Jonesb. 1819USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (1819–1884)
• Phineas Gageb. 1823USnot in their usual name19th century American railway worker who survived a large brain trauma
• Phineas Banningb. 1830USnot in their usual nameAmerican businessman (1830–1885)
• Phineas Warren Hitchcockb. 1831USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (1831–1881)
• Phineas C. Lounsburyb. 1841USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (1841-1925)
• Phineas Newbornb. 1931USnot in their usual nameAmerican jazz pianist (1931–1989)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Phinehas mean, and where does it come from?

Derived from the Egyptian name 'Pa-nehasi', meaning 'The Southerner' or 'The Nubian', referring to a dark-skinned person from the region south of Egypt. Recorded by Biblical Names Compiled Database.

Is Phinehas a male or female name?

Phinehas is a male name. National registers that list it by sex list it as male: United States (Census Bureau, 2020).

What are other forms of the name Phinehas?

In the etymology graph, Pinchas, Phineas and Finees are forms of the same name in other languages.

How do you pronounce Phinehas?

A machine transcription gives /fʲiːnhəz/ (IPA) for English.

In which country does Phinehas have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 375 people named Phinehas, more than in any other country we hold.

Where is Phinehas most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Phinehas is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 750 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Phinehas?

In the United States, the national register counted 375 people named Phinehas in 2020, about 1 in 887 thousand residents.