John Boy
How popular is John?
#23 boy name in 2025
8,027 baby boys were named John in the US in 2025, making it the 23rd most popular boy name. Another 6 girls got the name (#13,204 for girls).
John popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #23 for boys (▼ 2 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 8,027 boys, 6 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-23% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #26 in 2015, #27 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1947 (88,324 boys) |
| Highest rank | #1 in 1880 (44 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 6% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
John counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the John family of names ranked #23 for boys in 2025, with 8,273 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| John | 8,027 | 97% |
| Jon | 246 | 3% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where John is most popular
Babies named John per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Mississippi: 14.3 per 1,000 (813 boys)
- Alabama: 14.0 per 1,000 (1,530 boys)
- District of Columbia: 12.2 per 1,000 (180 boys)
- Wyoming: 11.6 per 1,000 (67 boys)
- Alaska: 10.0 per 1,000 (119 boys)
John by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 89,949 | #1 |
| 1890s | 80,664 | #1 |
| 1900s | 84,590 | #1 |
| 1910s | 376,311 | #1 |
| 1920s | 564,052 | #1 |
| 1930s | 487,950 | #3 |
| 1940s | 711,614 | #3 |
| 1950s | 797,922 | #3 |
| 1960s | 713,394 | #2 |
| 1970s | 402,612 | #4 |
| 1980s | 321,150 | #8 |
| 1990s | 240,151 | #10 |
| 2000s | 161,104 | #14 |
| 2010s | 102,800 | #26 |
| 2020s | 48,370 | #21 |
Boy names about as popular as John
Questions
- Is John a boy or girl name?
- John is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named John were boys.
- How popular is the name John?
- 8,027 baby boys were named John in the US in 2025, making it the 23rd most popular boy name. Another 6 girls got the name (#13,204 for girls).
- When was John most popular?
- John peaked in 1947, when 88,324 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #1, held for 44 years starting in 1880.
- How many people are named John?
- 5,204,377 babies have been named John in the US since 1880. We estimate about 2,792,808 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 60.
- Where is John most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, John was most common in Mississippi, at 14.3 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.