Meaning: Its source is Yirmeyahu, a Hebrew name meaning "Exalted by God."

Languages: This boy's name is used in English.

Nicknames: Jere, Jerry and Miah

Alternative Spellings: Jeremia, Jerimiah and Jeremieh

Variant Forms: Jeremy

Non-English Forms: Geremia, Jeremias, Jeremías, Hieremias and Ieremiya

Source Forms: Yirmeyahu

Popularity: The name Jeremiah ranked 92nd in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 311th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Though this name has fluctuated in use, it has been quietly present throughout the last century.

Narrative: So bitter and tempestuous were the moral exhortations of the Jewish prophet Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah in English) that any communication similarly laden with condemnation and predictions of doom has come to be called a ''jeremiad'' in his honor.

Curiously, none of this fire and brimstone descended upon Jeremy; it evolved from the prophet's name without picking up any of its stormy associations.