first name
JOHN
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 3,125,123 people named John, 82.9% reported their origin as White, 6.3% as Black and 6% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
John peaked in 1947, when 88,527 babies got the name.
At least 5,204,377 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
John by decade
Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #2 in every decade from the 1880s to the 1910s. The largest share of babies named John, 29.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where John is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, John has been most common in Massachusetts (1.6×), Rhode Island (1.6×), and Pennsylvania (1.6×), and least common in Arizona (0.52×).
4,943,092 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of John
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of John, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, John ranks #919 of 156,621, with 37,363 people. See John as a last name
Compare
🔎 JOHN 🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 97 Americans More common than 97.8% of us Peaked in 1947 with 88,527 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/john/