John

What John means

Possibly “God is gracious”

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),

Source: Wiktionary, “John” (revision 94540597), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is John?

US: Rising: up from #26 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #108 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 9,655 boys got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 213 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 919 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 393 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AL (15.94 per 1,000 boys), MS (13.94 per 1,000 boys), WY (13.76 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

John is #23 in the US and #174 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named John were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Jon246 US · 14 E&W
• Joan232 US
• Jan47 US · 57 E&W
• Jin56 US
• Jun39 US · 5 E&W
• Joon19 US
• Jaan5 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jon

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like John

Boys

• Michael#21“who is like God?”^*
• Matthew#32“gift of the Lord”^*
• Adam#101“earth, man, soil, light brown”^*
• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Jeremy#292Form of Jeremiah, meaning “Yahweh exalt”^*
• Jesse#184Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1981, with 10,443 babies; 2,002 in 2025

For a sister

• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like John’s. Rank is US 2025.