Jason
Jason was given to 2,224 boys in 2025, #165 among boys’ names; 1,057,058 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 976,000 Americans named Jason and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (92% of everyone recorded); the median is 46 years old and half are between 37 and 51.
Jason is the #21 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jason by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jason mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jason is “a male given name from Ancient Greek.” Its etymology gives the sense “I heal” (ἰάομαι).
From the Ancient Greek Ἰάσων (Iásōn), from ἰάομαι (iáomai, “I heal”). The Jason mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 17:5-9, Romans 16:21) is probably a Greek rendering of Joshua.
/ˈdʒeɪsən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jason?
#165 among boys’ names, 2025
Jason fell from #86 in 2015 to #165 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 2.6 to 1.3 per 1,000.
55,944 babies in 1977, the peak
Jason peaked in 1977, when 55,944 babies were given it (55,631 boys, #2 among boys’ names). The 2,224 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,224 | #165 | 1.3 |
| 2024 | 2,455 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 2023 | 2,465 | #147 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | 2,609 | #146 | 1.5 |
| 2021 | 2,875 | #129 | 1.6 |
| 2020 | 3,105 | #119 | 1.8 |
| 2019 | 3,579 | #103 | 2.0 |
| 2018 | 3,880 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 2017 | 4,256 | #92 | 2.3 |
| 2016 | 4,886 | #84 | 2.6 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5,025 | #86 | 2.6 |
| 2014 | 5,568 | #75 | 2.9 |
| 2013 | 5,519 | #79 | 2.9 |
| 2012 | 5,759 | #76 | 3.0 |
| 2011 | 5,854 | #71 | 3.1 |
| 2010 | 6,279 | #69 | 3.3 |
| 2009 | 6,927 | #66 | 3.5 |
| 2008 | 7,662 | #60 | 3.8 |
| 2007 | 8,120 | #59 | 3.9 |
| 2006 | 8,456 | #55 | 4.1 |
| 2005 | 8,614 | #51 | 4.3 |
| 2004 | 9,063 | #47 | 4.6 |
| 2003 | 9,822 | #42 | 5.0 |
| 2002 | 9,956 | #42 | 5.1 |
| 2001 | 10,164 | #41 | 5.2 |
| 2000 | 9,778 | #39 | 5.0 |
| 1999 | 9,366 | #40 | 4.9 |
| 1998 | 9,399 | #40 | 4.9 |
| 1997 | 8,746 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1996 | 8,695 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1995 | 9,004 | #41 | 4.7 |
| 1994 | 8,552 | #46 | 4.4 |
| 1993 | 8,639 | #45 | 4.4 |
| 1992 | 9,249 | #46 | 4.6 |
| 1991 | 9,387 | #49 | 4.6 |
| 1990 | 10,694 | #46 | 5.2 |
| 1989 | 12,614 | #35 | 6.3 |
| 1988 | 15,917 | #27 | 8.3 |
| 1987 | 19,350 | #23 | 10.4 |
| 1986 | 22,415 | #18 | 12.2 |
| 1985 | 26,039 | #14 | 14.1 |
| 1984 | 29,953 | #11 | 16.6 |
| 1983 | 35,113 | #7 | 19.6 |
| 1982 | 40,628 | #4 | 22.4 |
| 1981 | 41,927 | #4 | 23.4 |
| 1980 | 48,164 | #3 | 27.0 |
| 1979 | 50,369 | #3 | 29.3 |
| 1978 | 51,600 | #2 | 31.4 |
| 1977 | 55,631 | #2 | 33.9 |
| 1976 | 52,643 | #2 | 33.6 |
| 1975 | 52,159 | #2 | 33.4 |
| 1974 | 54,756 | #2 | 34.8 |
| 1973 | 46,683 | #3 | 30.0 |
| 1972 | 37,423 | #7 | 23.1 |
| 1971 | 34,173 | #8 | 19.3 |
| 1970 | 27,272 | #13 | 14.7 |
| 1969 | 16,488 | #25 | 9.2 |
| 1968 | 7,143 | #47 | 4.1 |
| 1967 | 5,336 | #54 | 3.1 |
| 1966 | 3,770 | #89 | 2.1 |
| 1965 | 2,887 | #111 | 1.6 |
| 1964 | 2,104 | #155 | 1.1 |
| 1963 | 1,503 | #198 | 0.74 |
| 1962 | 1,298 | #213 | 0.63 |
| 1961 | 1,058 | #242 | 0.50 |
| 1960 | 940 | #259 | 0.44 |
| 1959 | 720 | #292 | 0.34 |
| 1958 | 596 | #311 | 0.28 |
| 1957 | 440 | #368 | 0.20 |
| 1956 | 437 | #352 | 0.21 |
| 1955 | 397 | #364 | 0.19 |
| 1954 | 306 | #411 | 0.15 |
| 1953 | 275 | #422 | 0.14 |
| 1952 | 218 | #468 | 0.11 |
| 1951 | 189 | #492 | 0.10 |
| 1950 | 205 | #466 | 0.11 |
| 1949 | 217 | #454 | 0.12 |
| 1948 | 179 | #492 | 0.10 |
| 1947 | 133 | #592 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 117 | #597 | 0.07 |
| 1945 | 115 | #561 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 116 | #571 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 137 | #537 | 0.10 |
| 1942 | 118 | #566 | 0.09 |
| 1941 | 81 | #681 | 0.07 |
| 1940 | 93 | #617 | 0.08 |
| 1939 | 71 | #711 | 0.06 |
| 1938 | 92 | #620 | 0.08 |
| 1937 | 81 | #661 | 0.08 |
| 1936 | 97 | #589 | 0.09 |
| 1935 | 83 | #656 | 0.08 |
| 1934 | 91 | #631 | 0.09 |
| 1933 | 81 | #647 | 0.08 |
| 1932 | 95 | #610 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 83 | #658 | 0.08 |
| 1930 | 106 | #583 | 0.10 |
| 1929 | 119 | #534 | 0.11 |
| 1928 | 87 | #680 | 0.08 |
| 1927 | 97 | #645 | 0.09 |
| 1926 | 101 | #625 | 0.09 |
| 1925 | 110 | #602 | 0.10 |
| 1924 | 105 | #624 | 0.09 |
| 1923 | 101 | #638 | 0.09 |
| 1922 | 95 | #662 | 0.09 |
| 1921 | 97 | #657 | 0.09 |
| 1920 | 76 | #760 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 81 | #693 | 0.08 |
| 1918 | 102 | #608 | 0.10 |
| 1917 | 92 | #618 | 0.10 |
| 1916 | 83 | #644 | 0.09 |
| 1915 | 78 | #661 | 0.09 |
| 1914 | 59 | #662 | 0.09 |
| 1913 | 44 | #685 | 0.09 |
| 1912 | 42 | #655 | 0.10 |
| 1911 | 25 | #619 | 0.11 |
| 1910 | 24 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1909 | 15 | #736 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 10 | #915 | 0.06 |
| 1907 | 9 | #962 | 0.06 |
| 1906 | 15 | #631 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 12 | #725 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 11 | #742 | 0.09 |
| 1903 | 13 | #636 | 0.11 |
| 1902 | 14 | #601 | 0.11 |
| 1901 | 10 | #706 | 0.09 |
| 1900 | 15 | #662 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,128 | 0.05 |
| 1898 | 18 | #497 | 0.15 |
| 1897 | 12 | #628 | 0.11 |
| 1896 | 9 | #800 | 0.08 |
| 1895 | 23 | #403 | 0.20 |
| 1894 | 24 | #382 | 0.21 |
| 1893 | 8 | #799 | 0.07 |
| 1892 | 16 | #506 | 0.13 |
| 1891 | 15 | #462 | 0.15 |
| 1890 | 12 | #580 | 0.11 |
| 1889 | 18 | #437 | 0.16 |
| 1888 | 21 | #408 | 0.17 |
| 1887 | 14 | #472 | 0.14 |
| 1886 | 21 | #388 | 0.19 |
| 1885 | 16 | #468 | 0.15 |
| 1884 | 25 | #356 | 0.22 |
| 1883 | 13 | #506 | 0.12 |
| 1882 | 20 | #406 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 22 | #355 | 0.22 |
| 1880 | 20 | #386 | 0.18 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Jason a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Jason has been given almost only to boys: 5,028 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Jason: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jason, and how old are they?
976,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 92% of the 1,057,058 Americans ever recorded as Jason. The median Jason alive today is 46 years old; half are between 37 and 51.
The 2020 Census counted 898,652 people named Jason (1,033 women and girls, 897,619 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 981,891 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 355 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 8,330 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 495,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 292,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 132,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 48,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Jason born?
The states with the most babies named Jason are California, New York and Texas, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 118,411 | #135 | 1.0× |
| New York | 76,864 | #153 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 72,099 | #163 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 53,483 | #210 | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 50,611 | #130 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 47,629 | #171 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 46,364 | #182 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 41,149 | #128 | 1.0× |
| Indiana | 28,393 | #151 | 1.1× |
| New Jersey | 28,149 | #160 | 0.9× |
Where Jason is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jason is most over-represented in Michigan: since 1910 it was given 1.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Jason with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,105,428 babies since 1880, Jason is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,224 of their 2,766 babies (80%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Jason
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Chad | 241,767 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Jason and names like it
- Compare Jason and JaysonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sJason peaked in 1977.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jason since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Jason: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1977The year the most babies were named Jason.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Jason alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with JMost given first.