Jesus
Jesus was given to 2,078 boys in 2025, #173 among boys’ names; 246,966 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 217,000 Americans named Jesus and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (88% of everyone recorded); the median is 27 years old and half are between 18 and 39.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jesus by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jesus mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jesus is “a male given name from Spanish in Spanish culture; an anglicized spelling of Jesús.” Its etymology gives the senses “Joshua” (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ) and “the Lord saves” (meaning).
Also “a male given name from Aramaic.”
From Middle English Jhesus, Iesus, from Latin Iēsūs, from Ancient Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), from Biblical Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ), a contracted form of יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (yəhōšúaʿ, “Joshua”), meaning “the Lord saves”. The form יֵשׁוּעַ (yēšū́aʿ) is attested in some of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (Ezra–Nehemiah), and translated as Jeshua or Yeshua in some English editions (the former appearing in the King James Version). The Greek texts make no distinction between Jesus and Joshua, referring to them both as Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). In the Wycliffe Bible (Middle English), the forms used are Jhesus and Jhesu.
/ˈd͡ʒizəs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jesus?
#173 among boys’ names, 2025
Jesus fell from #129 in 2015 to #173 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.7 to 1.2 per 1,000.
6,508 babies in 2004, the peak
Jesus peaked in 2004, when 6,508 babies were given it (6,472 boys, #70 among boys’ names). The 2,084 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 32% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,078 | #173 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 2,221 | #164 | 1.3 |
| 2023 | 2,113 | #172 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | 2,259 | #166 | 1.3 |
| 2021 | 2,270 | #170 | 1.3 |
| 2020 | 2,297 | #169 | 1.3 |
| 2019 | 2,541 | #155 | 1.4 |
| 2018 | 2,643 | #148 | 1.5 |
| 2017 | 2,749 | #144 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 3,079 | #134 | 1.6 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,182 | #129 | 1.7 |
| 2014 | 3,523 | #111 | 1.8 |
| 2013 | 3,674 | #107 | 1.9 |
| 2012 | 3,783 | #101 | 2.0 |
| 2011 | 4,168 | #93 | 2.2 |
| 2010 | 4,454 | #92 | 2.3 |
| 2009 | 5,387 | #78 | 2.7 |
| 2008 | 5,758 | #79 | 2.8 |
| 2007 | 6,223 | #77 | 3.0 |
| 2006 | 6,461 | #74 | 3.1 |
| 2005 | 6,382 | #73 | 3.2 |
| 2004 | 6,472 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 2003 | 6,163 | #67 | 3.1 |
| 2002 | 6,371 | #66 | 3.3 |
| 2001 | 6,425 | #66 | 3.3 |
| 2000 | 5,682 | #76 | 2.9 |
| 1999 | 5,571 | #70 | 2.9 |
| 1998 | 5,217 | #76 | 2.7 |
| 1997 | 5,164 | #71 | 2.7 |
| 1996 | 5,115 | #74 | 2.7 |
| 1995 | 4,908 | #76 | 2.6 |
| 1994 | 4,916 | #79 | 2.5 |
| 1993 | 4,683 | #80 | 2.4 |
| 1992 | 4,823 | #78 | 2.4 |
| 1991 | 4,601 | #80 | 2.3 |
| 1990 | 4,131 | #90 | 2.0 |
| 1989 | 3,291 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 1988 | 2,928 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1987 | 2,790 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1986 | 2,597 | #109 | 1.4 |
| 1985 | 2,687 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1984 | 2,513 | #109 | 1.4 |
| 1983 | 2,511 | #108 | 1.4 |
| 1982 | 2,624 | #111 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 2,759 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1980 | 2,700 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1979 | 2,364 | #112 | 1.4 |
| 1978 | 2,074 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1977 | 2,044 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1976 | 2,040 | #129 | 1.3 |
| 1975 | 1,924 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1974 | 1,945 | #133 | 1.2 |
| 1973 | 1,739 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1972 | 1,611 | #161 | 1.0 |
| 1971 | 1,583 | #170 | 0.90 |
| 1970 | 1,483 | #185 | 0.80 |
| 1969 | 1,403 | #191 | 0.78 |
| 1968 | 1,227 | #192 | 0.71 |
| 1967 | 1,141 | #203 | 0.65 |
| 1966 | 1,108 | #209 | 0.62 |
| 1965 | 1,014 | #229 | 0.55 |
| 1964 | 1,076 | #228 | 0.54 |
| 1963 | 995 | #241 | 0.49 |
| 1962 | 1,043 | #239 | 0.50 |
| 1961 | 973 | #250 | 0.46 |
| 1960 | 914 | #262 | 0.43 |
| 1959 | 918 | #264 | 0.43 |
| 1958 | 865 | #264 | 0.41 |
| 1957 | 856 | #257 | 0.40 |
| 1956 | 825 | #249 | 0.39 |
| 1955 | 841 | #241 | 0.41 |
| 1954 | 791 | #245 | 0.39 |
| 1953 | 843 | #234 | 0.43 |
| 1952 | 810 | #234 | 0.42 |
| 1951 | 821 | #230 | 0.44 |
| 1950 | 782 | #235 | 0.44 |
| 1949 | 784 | #231 | 0.44 |
| 1948 | 845 | #220 | 0.48 |
| 1947 | 757 | #233 | 0.41 |
| 1946 | 702 | #226 | 0.43 |
| 1945 | 662 | #211 | 0.49 |
| 1944 | 559 | #242 | 0.41 |
| 1943 | 560 | #250 | 0.39 |
| 1942 | 535 | #246 | 0.39 |
| 1941 | 449 | #268 | 0.37 |
| 1940 | 463 | #255 | 0.40 |
| 1939 | 459 | #251 | 0.41 |
| 1938 | 473 | #250 | 0.43 |
| 1937 | 509 | #233 | 0.48 |
| 1936 | 470 | #240 | 0.45 |
| 1935 | 500 | #233 | 0.48 |
| 1934 | 537 | #224 | 0.52 |
| 1933 | 514 | #226 | 0.52 |
| 1932 | 635 | #203 | 0.61 |
| 1931 | 630 | #205 | 0.61 |
| 1930 | 753 | #186 | 0.69 |
| 1929 | 767 | #181 | 0.71 |
| 1928 | 775 | #184 | 0.70 |
| 1927 | 727 | #195 | 0.65 |
| 1926 | 713 | #197 | 0.64 |
| 1925 | 722 | #192 | 0.65 |
| 1924 | 662 | #209 | 0.58 |
| 1923 | 606 | #211 | 0.55 |
| 1922 | 561 | #234 | 0.52 |
| 1921 | 517 | #247 | 0.47 |
| 1920 | 528 | #238 | 0.50 |
| 1919 | 439 | #253 | 0.45 |
| 1918 | 362 | #281 | 0.36 |
| 1917 | 289 | #315 | 0.31 |
| 1916 | 270 | #320 | 0.30 |
| 1915 | 242 | #342 | 0.29 |
| 1914 | 194 | #328 | 0.30 |
| 1913 | 145 | #344 | 0.28 |
| 1912 | 146 | #299 | 0.34 |
| 1911 | 79 | #298 | 0.35 |
| 1910 | 73 | #286 | 0.38 |
| 1909 | 68 | #272 | 0.41 |
| 1908 | 67 | #258 | 0.43 |
| 1907 | 54 | #287 | 0.37 |
| 1906 | 44 | #314 | 0.33 |
| 1905 | 59 | #255 | 0.45 |
| 1904 | 44 | #290 | 0.34 |
| 1903 | 20 | #478 | 0.17 |
| 1902 | 21 | #466 | 0.17 |
| 1901 | 27 | #355 | 0.25 |
| 1900 | 49 | #297 | 0.33 |
| 1899 | 20 | #421 | 0.19 |
| 1898 | 20 | #462 | 0.16 |
| 1897 | 15 | #533 | 0.13 |
| 1896 | 21 | #432 | 0.18 |
| 1895 | 17 | #497 | 0.14 |
| 1894 | 13 | #579 | 0.11 |
| 1893 | 11 | #633 | 0.10 |
| 1892 | 11 | #659 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,040 | 0.05 |
| 1890 | 9 | #703 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 9 | #699 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 20 | #423 | 0.17 |
| 1887 | 15 | #442 | 0.15 |
| 1886 | 12 | #561 | 0.11 |
| 1885 | 14 | #511 | 0.13 |
| 1884 | 11 | #587 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 12 | #541 | 0.11 |
| 1882 | 14 | #503 | 0.12 |
| 1881 | 8 | #675 | 0.08 |
| 1880 | 18 | #413 | 0.16 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Jesus a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 246,966 Americans recorded as Jesus, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls and 2,078 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Jesus: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jesus, and how old are they?
217,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 88% of the 246,966 Americans ever recorded as Jesus. The median Jesus alive today is 27 years old; half are between 18 and 39.
The 2020 Census counted 331,353 people named Jesus (3,606 women and girls, 327,747 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 209,734 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,940 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 11,200 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 24,800 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 55,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 88,600 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 34,400 |
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 Jesus born?
The states with the most babies named Jesus are Texas, California and Arizona, with 56% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Arizona is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 550 | #69 | 3.5× |
| California | 444 | #86 | 2.7× |
| Arizona | 154 | #32 | 3.5× |
| Florida | 96 | #222 | 0.6× |
| Illinois | 74 | #160 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 57 | #220 | 0.4× |
| Washington | 56 | #149 | 0.7× |
| Colorado | 51 | #139 | 1.1× |
| New York | 49 | #363 | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 46 | #270 | 0.4× |
Where Jesus is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jesus is most over-represented in Arizona: since 1910 it was given 3.5 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 Jesus 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 5 names spelled alike, given to 272,895 babies since 1880, Jesus is the most given (90% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,084 of their 2,112 babies (99%), 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 Jesus
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Jesus and names like it
- Compare Jesus and JessBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sJesus peaked in 2004.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jesus since 1910.
- The top names of 2004The year the most babies were named Jesus.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Jesus alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with JMost given first.