John
John was given to 8,027 boys in 2025, #23 among boys’ names; 5,204,377 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2.69 million Americans named John and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (52% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 41 and 71.
John is the #3 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 John by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does John mean?
Wiktionary, English section
John is “a male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle Ages.” Its etymology gives the sense “God is gracious” (יְהוֹחָנָן).
From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”). Doublet of Jack, Jon, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Ian, Ivan, Evan, Juan, Giovanni, and Yahya.
/d͡ʒɑn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is John?
#23 among boys’ names, 2025
John rose from #26 in 2015 to #23 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born fell from 5.4 to 4.7 per 1,000.
88,527 babies in 1947, the peak
John peaked in 1947, when 88,527 babies were given it (88,324 boys, #3 among boys’ names). The 8,033 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 9% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8,027 | #23 | 4.7 |
| 2024 | 8,087 | #21 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | 7,804 | #26 | 4.6 |
| 2022 | 8,001 | #26 | 4.6 |
| 2021 | 8,186 | #27 | 4.7 |
| 2020 | 8,265 | #27 | 4.8 |
| 2019 | 8,863 | #28 | 4.9 |
| 2018 | 9,204 | #26 | 5.1 |
| 2017 | 9,536 | #27 | 5.2 |
| 2016 | 10,060 | #28 | 5.3 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 10,423 | #26 | 5.4 |
| 2014 | 10,701 | #26 | 5.6 |
| 2013 | 10,739 | #27 | 5.7 |
| 2012 | 10,638 | #28 | 5.6 |
| 2011 | 11,068 | #27 | 5.8 |
| 2010 | 11,568 | #26 | 6.0 |
| 2009 | 12,133 | #26 | 6.1 |
| 2008 | 13,336 | #20 | 6.5 |
| 2007 | 14,447 | #19 | 7.0 |
| 2006 | 15,177 | #19 | 7.4 |
| 2005 | 15,796 | #18 | 7.9 |
| 2004 | 16,470 | #17 | 8.3 |
| 2003 | 17,249 | #17 | 8.7 |
| 2002 | 17,477 | #17 | 9.0 |
| 2001 | 18,904 | #14 | 9.7 |
| 2000 | 20,115 | #14 | 10.2 |
| 1999 | 20,366 | #15 | 10.6 |
| 1998 | 20,633 | #15 | 10.8 |
| 1997 | 21,386 | #15 | 11.3 |
| 1996 | 22,188 | #15 | 11.7 |
| 1995 | 23,244 | #13 | 12.2 |
| 1994 | 24,187 | #15 | 12.5 |
| 1993 | 24,996 | #16 | 12.7 |
| 1992 | 26,253 | #14 | 13.1 |
| 1991 | 27,809 | #10 | 13.8 |
| 1990 | 29,089 | #12 | 14.2 |
| 1989 | 29,853 | #12 | 14.9 |
| 1988 | 29,427 | #11 | 15.4 |
| 1987 | 29,555 | #11 | 15.8 |
| 1986 | 30,209 | #10 | 16.4 |
| 1985 | 31,502 | #9 | 17.0 |
| 1984 | 32,610 | #8 | 18.1 |
| 1983 | 33,154 | #9 | 18.5 |
| 1982 | 34,698 | #8 | 19.1 |
| 1981 | 34,868 | #8 | 19.5 |
| 1980 | 35,274 | #8 | 19.8 |
| 1979 | 35,410 | #7 | 20.6 |
| 1978 | 34,014 | #7 | 20.7 |
| 1977 | 34,195 | #7 | 20.8 |
| 1976 | 33,976 | #6 | 21.7 |
| 1975 | 35,079 | #7 | 22.5 |
| 1974 | 37,612 | #6 | 23.9 |
| 1973 | 39,165 | #6 | 25.1 |
| 1972 | 43,158 | #5 | 26.6 |
| 1971 | 51,512 | #4 | 29.1 |
| 1970 | 58,491 | #4 | 31.5 |
| 1969 | 58,732 | #4 | 32.8 |
| 1968 | 60,903 | #3 | 35.0 |
| 1967 | 61,600 | #4 | 35.3 |
| 1966 | 65,016 | #4 | 36.5 |
| 1965 | 71,493 | #2 | 38.4 |
| 1964 | 82,508 | #2 | 41.4 |
| 1963 | 78,636 | #2 | 38.7 |
| 1962 | 78,427 | #3 | 37.9 |
| 1961 | 79,983 | #3 | 37.7 |
| 1960 | 76,096 | #4 | 35.7 |
| 1959 | 76,446 | #4 | 35.8 |
| 1958 | 76,057 | #5 | 35.8 |
| 1957 | 79,033 | #5 | 36.6 |
| 1956 | 80,804 | #5 | 38.2 |
| 1955 | 80,128 | #5 | 38.9 |
| 1954 | 81,168 | #4 | 39.8 |
| 1953 | 80,165 | #4 | 40.6 |
| 1952 | 83,140 | #3 | 42.8 |
| 1951 | 81,569 | #3 | 43.3 |
| 1950 | 79,412 | #3 | 44.4 |
| 1949 | 81,178 | #3 | 45.8 |
| 1948 | 82,834 | #3 | 47.2 |
| 1947 | 88,324 | #3 | 48.3 |
| 1946 | 79,267 | #3 | 48.8 |
| 1945 | 66,117 | #3 | 49.1 |
| 1944 | 66,616 | #3 | 48.9 |
| 1943 | 68,929 | #3 | 48.3 |
| 1942 | 66,043 | #3 | 47.8 |
| 1941 | 57,520 | #3 | 46.8 |
| 1940 | 54,786 | #3 | 47.3 |
| 1939 | 51,025 | #3 | 46.1 |
| 1938 | 50,517 | #3 | 45.5 |
| 1937 | 48,755 | #3 | 45.7 |
| 1936 | 47,683 | #3 | 46.0 |
| 1935 | 47,509 | #3 | 45.6 |
| 1934 | 46,743 | #3 | 45.3 |
| 1933 | 46,224 | #3 | 46.6 |
| 1932 | 48,624 | #3 | 46.6 |
| 1931 | 48,423 | #3 | 46.6 |
| 1930 | 52,447 | #3 | 47.8 |
| 1929 | 52,112 | #3 | 48.4 |
| 1928 | 53,760 | #2 | 48.5 |
| 1927 | 55,949 | #2 | 49.6 |
| 1926 | 56,108 | #2 | 50.5 |
| 1925 | 57,195 | #2 | 51.3 |
| 1924 | 59,052 | #2 | 52.1 |
| 1923 | 57,467 | #1 | 52.4 |
| 1922 | 57,280 | #1 | 52.6 |
| 1921 | 58,216 | #1 | 52.9 |
| 1920 | 56,913 | #1 | 53.5 |
| 1919 | 53,522 | #1 | 54.6 |
| 1918 | 56,558 | #1 | 55.8 |
| 1917 | 51,852 | #1 | 56.0 |
| 1916 | 50,043 | #1 | 56.2 |
| 1915 | 47,576 | #1 | 56.1 |
| 1914 | 37,947 | #1 | 58.0 |
| 1913 | 29,329 | #1 | 57.2 |
| 1912 | 24,588 | #1 | 57.2 |
| 1911 | 13,446 | #1 | 59.5 |
| 1910 | 11,450 | #1 | 59.0 |
| 1909 | 9,590 | #1 | 58.5 |
| 1908 | 9,343 | #1 | 60.5 |
| 1907 | 8,983 | #1 | 61.2 |
| 1906 | 8,264 | #1 | 62.1 |
| 1905 | 8,059 | #1 | 60.9 |
| 1904 | 8,108 | #1 | 63.3 |
| 1903 | 7,608 | #1 | 63.8 |
| 1902 | 7,907 | #1 | 64.5 |
| 1901 | 6,900 | #1 | 64.8 |
| 1900 | 9,828 | #1 | 65.3 |
| 1899 | 6,990 | #1 | 65.8 |
| 1898 | 8,159 | #1 | 66.5 |
| 1897 | 7,550 | #1 | 67.0 |
| 1896 | 8,138 | #1 | 68.1 |
| 1895 | 8,320 | #1 | 70.9 |
| 1894 | 8,237 | #1 | 71.2 |
| 1893 | 8,049 | #1 | 71.7 |
| 1892 | 9,039 | #1 | 74.1 |
| 1891 | 7,680 | #1 | 75.9 |
| 1890 | 8,502 | #1 | 76.6 |
| 1889 | 8,548 | #1 | 77.3 |
| 1888 | 9,247 | #1 | 76.5 |
| 1887 | 8,110 | #1 | 80.0 |
| 1886 | 9,026 | #1 | 81.5 |
| 1885 | 8,756 | #1 | 81.2 |
| 1884 | 9,388 | #1 | 82.0 |
| 1883 | 8,894 | #1 | 85.0 |
| 1882 | 9,557 | #1 | 84.1 |
| 1881 | 8,768 | #1 | 87.0 |
| 1880 | 9,655 | #1 | 87.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is John a boy’s or a girl’s name?
John has been given almost only to boys: 21,744 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named John: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named John, and how old are they?
2.69 million alive in 2026, estimated
That is 52% of the 5,204,377 Americans ever recorded as John. The median John alive today is 59 years old; half are between 41 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 3,125,123 people named John (6,503 women and girls, 3,118,620 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,980,160 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 204,000 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1.01 million |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 664,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 442,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 253,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 117,000 |
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 John born?
The states with the most babies named John are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 500,972 | #24 | 1.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 423,373 | #19 | 1.3× |
| California | 318,091 | #79 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 275,968 | #22 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 255,257 | #34 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 245,744 | #35 | 0.8× |
| Massachusetts | 201,638 | #13 | 1.3× |
| New Jersey | 199,253 | #26 | 1.3× |
| Michigan | 183,216 | #22 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 126,691 | #10 | 0.8× |
Where John is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, John is most over-represented in Massachusetts: since 1910 it was given 1.3 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 John 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 5,398,772 babies since 1880, John is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 8,033 of their 9,015 babies (89%), 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 John
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 John and names like it
- Compare John and JonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sJohn peaked in 1947.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named John since 1910.
- The top names of 1947The year the most babies were named John.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named John alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with JMost given first.