Jonathan — #83 US boys' name
866,991 babies named Jonathan in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1988. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.4% of names given to boys today.
27% of everyone ever named Jonathan was born in this single decade.
24,348 babies were named Jonathan in 1988 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Jonathan
The Social Security Administration has registered 866,991 babies named Jonathan between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Jonathan currently holds the #83 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1988, when 24,348 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Jonathan performed strongest in the 1980s, accumulating 229,959 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Jonathan shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 121,974 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Jonathan in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Jonathan in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 866,991 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Jonathan at a glance
Top 100 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Jonathan popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1988)
- 24,348
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #83 among boys.
866,991 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1988 with 24,348 births in a single year.
Jonathan popularity over time — girls
3,570 total births recorded since 1954 (Jonathan as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Jonathan accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Jonathan by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- 229,959 births that decade — 27% of Jonathan's all-time total
Jonathan decade highlights
- Peak decade 229,959 births
- Runner-up 197,500 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1980s was Jonathan's strongest decade
229,959 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 27% of all-time use.
Jonathan by state
Where Jonathan concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 121,974 | 14.1% |
| #2 | Texas | | 74,319 | 8.6% |
| #3 | New York | | 72,360 | 8.3% |
| #4 | Florida | | 42,950 | 5.0% |
| #5 | Illinois | | 35,628 | 4.1% |
| #6 | Pennsylvania | | 35,061 | 4.0% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 29,893 | 3.4% |
| #8 | North Carolina | | 29,168 | 3.4% |
121,974 of 866,991 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- California 14.1% of nationwide
- Texas 8.6% of nationwide
- New York 8.3% of nationwide
- Florida 5.0% of nationwide
- Illinois 4.1% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
California accounts for 14.1% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Jonathan appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.