Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys
Origin: GermanJohn is a very common given male name in the English language, ultimately of Hebrew origin. The English form is from Middle English Ioon, Ihon, Iohn, Jan, itself from Old French Jan, Jean, Jehan, from Medieval Latin Johannes, an altered form of Late Latin Ioannes.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of John yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
John's total of 5,196,210 births since 1880 edges out Michael's and even James's from the top-25 batch, and like Samuel and William before it, its best-ever rank — #1 — was already locked in by 1880, the first year this dataset covers. Its single biggest year came later, 1947, with 88,321 births.
Today it sits at #21 with 8,047 births in 2024, down 25% over the decade — the same percentage decline as Samuel, though John's much larger historical base means the absolute drop represents a bigger swing in real terms.
The famous-bearer list spans philosophy (John Locke), literature (J. R. R. Tolkien, born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien), and politics (John F. Kennedy, John Adams) across four centuries — a name whose cultural weight was already fully established well before the 20th-century birth boom that produced its highest single-year count.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to John · Compare John with another name → · Popular names of the 1940s · Boys names starting with J
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 9,655 | #1 |
| 1881 | 8,768 | #1 |
| 1882 | 9,557 | #1 |
| 1883 | 8,894 | #1 |
| 1884 | 9,388 | #1 |
| 1885 | 8,756 | #1 |
| 1886 | 9,026 | #1 |
| 1887 | 8,110 | #1 |
| 1888 | 9,247 | #1 |
| 1889 | 8,548 | #1 |
| 1890 | 8,502 | #1 |
| 1891 | 7,680 | #1 |
| 1892 | 9,039 | #1 |
| 1893 | 8,049 | #1 |
| 1894 | 8,237 | #1 |
| 1895 | 8,320 | #1 |
| 1896 | 8,138 | #1 |
| 1897 | 7,550 | #1 |
| 1898 | 8,159 | #1 |
| 1899 | 6,990 | #1 |
| 1900 | 9,828 | #1 |
| 1901 | 6,900 | #1 |
| 1902 | 7,907 | #1 |
| 1903 | 7,608 | #1 |
| 1904 | 8,108 | #1 |
| 1905 | 8,059 | #1 |
| 1906 | 8,264 | #1 |
| 1907 | 8,983 | #1 |
| 1908 | 9,343 | #1 |
| 1909 | 9,590 | #1 |
| 1910 | 11,450 | #1 |
| 1911 | 13,446 | #1 |
| 1912 | 24,588 | #1 |
| 1913 | 29,329 | #1 |
| 1914 | 37,947 | #1 |
| 1915 | 47,576 | #1 |
| 1916 | 50,043 | #1 |
| 1917 | 51,852 | #1 |
| 1918 | 56,558 | #1 |
| 1919 | 53,523 | #1 |
| 1920 | 56,913 | #1 |
| 1921 | 58,215 | #1 |
| 1922 | 57,281 | #1 |
| 1923 | 57,467 | #1 |
| 1924 | 59,052 | #2 |
| 1925 | 57,195 | #2 |
| 1926 | 56,108 | #2 |
| 1927 | 55,949 | #2 |
| 1928 | 53,761 | #2 |
| 1929 | 52,110 | #3 |
| 1930 | 52,447 | #3 |
| 1931 | 48,422 | #3 |
| 1932 | 48,625 | #3 |
| 1933 | 46,225 | #3 |
| 1934 | 46,742 | #3 |
| 1935 | 47,510 | #3 |
| 1936 | 47,679 | #3 |
| 1937 | 48,753 | #3 |
| 1938 | 50,518 | #3 |
| 1939 | 51,025 | #3 |
| 1940 | 54,784 | #3 |
| 1941 | 57,519 | #3 |
| 1942 | 66,041 | #3 |
| 1943 | 68,928 | #3 |
| 1944 | 66,611 | #3 |
| 1945 | 66,118 | #3 |
| 1946 | 79,266 | #3 |
| 1947 | 88,321 | #3 |
| 1948 | 82,832 | #3 |
| 1949 | 81,180 | #3 |
| 1950 | 79,412 | #3 |
| 1951 | 81,570 | #3 |
| 1952 | 83,138 | #3 |
| 1953 | 80,167 | #4 |
| 1954 | 81,176 | #4 |
| 1955 | 80,122 | #5 |
| 1956 | 80,806 | #5 |
| 1957 | 79,032 | #5 |
| 1958 | 76,049 | #5 |
| 1959 | 76,445 | #4 |
| 1960 | 76,086 | #4 |
| 1961 | 79,973 | #3 |
| 1962 | 78,420 | #3 |
| 1963 | 78,616 | #2 |
| 1964 | 82,519 | #2 |
| 1965 | 71,499 | #2 |
| 1966 | 65,015 | #4 |
| 1967 | 61,603 | #4 |
| 1968 | 60,906 | #3 |
| 1969 | 58,737 | #4 |
| 1970 | 58,496 | #4 |
| 1971 | 51,508 | #4 |
| 1972 | 43,162 | #5 |
| 1973 | 39,169 | #6 |
| 1974 | 37,618 | #6 |
| 1975 | 35,075 | #7 |
| 1976 | 33,979 | #6 |
| 1977 | 34,199 | #7 |
| 1978 | 34,018 | #7 |
| 1979 | 35,412 | #7 |
| 1980 | 35,277 | #8 |
| 1981 | 34,872 | #8 |
| 1982 | 34,707 | #8 |
| 1983 | 33,158 | #9 |
| 1984 | 32,611 | #8 |
| 1985 | 31,499 | #9 |
| 1986 | 30,208 | #10 |
| 1987 | 29,553 | #11 |
| 1988 | 29,423 | #11 |
| 1989 | 29,853 | #12 |
| 1990 | 29,090 | #12 |
| 1991 | 27,809 | #10 |
| 1992 | 26,255 | #14 |
| 1993 | 24,995 | #16 |
| 1994 | 24,186 | #15 |
| 1995 | 23,244 | #13 |
| 1996 | 22,186 | #15 |
| 1997 | 21,386 | #15 |
| 1998 | 20,631 | #15 |
| 1999 | 20,365 | #15 |
| 2000 | 20,113 | #14 |
| 2001 | 18,903 | #14 |
| 2002 | 17,476 | #17 |
| 2003 | 17,249 | #17 |
| 2004 | 16,467 | #18 |
| 2005 | 15,791 | #18 |
| 2006 | 15,176 | #19 |
| 2007 | 14,440 | #19 |
| 2008 | 13,335 | #20 |
| 2009 | 12,133 | #26 |
| 2010 | 11,567 | #26 |
| 2011 | 11,065 | #27 |
| 2012 | 10,635 | #28 |
| 2013 | 10,736 | #27 |
| 2014 | 10,699 | #26 |
| 2015 | 10,421 | #26 |
| 2016 | 10,055 | #28 |
| 2017 | 9,530 | #27 |
| 2018 | 9,198 | #26 |
| 2019 | 8,857 | #28 |
| 2020 | 8,262 | #27 |
| 2021 | 8,182 | #27 |
| 2022 | 7,993 | #26 |
| 2023 | 7,793 | #26 |
| 2024 | 8,047 | #21 |
