A biblical Hebrew name meaning 'causing to forget,' borne by a son of Joseph in the Old Testament.
Manasseh is a name weighted with biblical gravity and ancient sorrow. In Hebrew, it derives from the root n-sh-h, meaning "to forget" or "to cause to forget," and its origin story is one of the most poignant in Genesis. Joseph, enslaved in Egypt and separated from his family for years, names his firstborn Manasseh, saying, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."
The name is thus an act of emotional survival — a declaration that grief can, through grace, be transformed into something bearable. In the Hebrew Bible, Manasseh goes on to become one of the twelve tribes of Israel, occupying a large territory in Canaan. In the Books of Kings, King Manasseh of Judah is portrayed as the most sinful of the Israelite kings, reigning for 55 years and introducing idolatrous practices — yet later Jewish and Christian traditions, drawing on the Book of Chronicles, emphasize his eventual repentance, making Manasseh a symbol of radical redemption.
This dual legacy gives the name unusual theological depth. The name was common among Puritan settlers in 17th-century New England, who drew heavily from Old Testament names. It fell out of widespread use through the 18th and 19th centuries but has experienced quiet revivals among families seeking names with unambiguous biblical weight and distinctive sound. Today, Manasseh is rare enough to feel genuinely uncommon while remaining immediately recognizable to anyone with familiarity with scripture — a name that arrives with its own ancient story already attached.