Kedesh as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Kedesh

What is the meaning of the name Kedesh ?

The baby name Kedesh is a Unisex name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced Hebrew: ke-DESH (/keˈdeʃ/); English: KED-esh (/ˈkɛdɛʃ/).

Kedesh is Hebrew, Semitic in Origin.

Kedesh is a rare Hebrew given name taken from the biblical place name קֶדֶשׁ (Qedesh), from the Semitic root q-d-š “to be holy.” It denotes “holiness,” “consecration,” or “sanctuary,” fittingly borne by the Galilean city of refuge in the territory of Naphtali (Joshua 20:7), linked with Barak (Judges 4) and later captured by Tiglath-Pileser III (2 Kings 15:29). The root appears widely across Semitic languages (e.g., Hebrew qadosh, Arabic quds), and ancient sources render the name as Greek Kedēs and Latin Cedes.

As a given name, Kedesh remains uncommon and reads as unisex in modern use, appealing to parents drawn to sacred or place-based biblical choices like Zion or Shiloh. Variant transliterations include Qedesh, Kadesh, and Qadesh; related but distinct forms are Kadosh/Kaddish. Possible short forms are Ked or Desh. Note that Qedeshah is a different feminine term in the Bible with separate connotations.

⚙ Kedesh is extremely rare. Across 2 countries, we found just 3 recorded uses of it.