John
John is ranked 21st among boys in 2024 (8,047 births). It was the number one boy’s name in 1880–1923.
- Rank in 2024
- #21up 5 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 8,0470.47% of boys
- Peak year
- 194788,321 births
- Best rank
- #1first in 1880
- Since 1880
- 5,196,210people given the name
The story in the numbers
5,174,470 boys have been named John in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1947, with 88,321 births — 4.8% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 26 → 21).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1952, and the 1950s alone account for 15%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 145 of them in the top 100 and 108 in the top 10.
It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 21,740 girls have also been given it, 0.42% of the total.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named John | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 89,949 | |
| 1890s | 80,664 | |
| 1900s | 84,590 | |
| 1910s | 376,312 | |
| 1920s | 564,051 | |
| 1930s | 487,946 | |
| 1940s | 711,600 | |
| 1950s | 797,917 | |
| 1960s | 713,374 | |
| 1970s | 402,636 | |
| 1980s | 321,161 | |
| 1990s | 240,147 | |
| 2000s | 161,083 | |
| 2010s | 102,763 | |
| 2020s | 40,277 |
In 1947, its biggest year
John was the 3rd most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1947 were James, Robert, John, William and Richard. See all of 1947.
Names that rose and fell with John
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Frederickpeak 1951
- Williampeak 1947
- Charlespeak 1947
- Edwardpeak 1924
- Leepeak 1951
- Shermanpeak 1950
- Edmondpeak 1920
- Lenpeak 1960
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.