Jathan
A Hebrew name blending the names Jacob and Nathan, meaning "Yahweh has given".
Name Census estimates that about 1,467 living Americans carry the first name Jathan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jathan today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jathan births was 2012 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jathan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 233,643 Americans
Peak year
2012
89 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,282
Tracked since 1971
Census
Jathan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,223 people with the first name Jathan, which placed it at #10,750 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,750
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jathan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jathan is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (19.9%) and Hispanic (19.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jathan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jathan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.1% · 564
- Black or African American19.9% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino19.1% · 234
- Two or more races7.8% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 65
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 22
Popularity
Jathan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jathan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 589 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jathan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jathan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jathans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Jathan, while Oklahoma, New York, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jathan
The name Jathan is a relatively modern name with its origins rooted in the Hebrew language. It is believed to have been derived from the Hebrew name Jonathan, which means "gift of God" or "God has given." The name Jathan is a variant spelling of the more common name Nathan, which also has Hebrew roots and means "he gave."
While the exact origin of the name Jathan is unclear, it is thought to have emerged as a unique combination of the names Jonathan and Nathan sometime in the late 20th century. The name's popularity appears to have been primarily concentrated in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name Jathan has been recorded in various historical contexts. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the writings of the 17th-century English writer and philosopher John Milton, who mentioned a character named Jathan in his epic poem "Paradise Lost."
In terms of notable individuals bearing the name Jathan, the earliest recorded example dates back to the 18th century. Jathan Brewster (1728-1804) was an American patriot and soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He served under General George Washington and later became a prominent figure in the early days of the United States.
Another notable Jathan in history was Jathan Haskel (1790-1856), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont in the 1830s.
In the 19th century, Jathan Bruen (1822-1898) was a prominent American businessman and industrialist who played a significant role in the development of the iron and steel industry in Pennsylvania.
Moving into the 20th century, Jathan Janove (1920-2002) was an American artist and sculptor known for his abstract and modernist works. His sculptures can be found in various public spaces and galleries across the United States.
More recently, Jathan Caldwell (born 1994) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who has competed on various professional tours, including the European Tour and the PGA Tour.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Jathan, showcasing its presence across different eras and fields, from military service and politics to business, art, and sports.
People
Jathan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jathan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jathan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jathan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,467 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jathan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 233,643 US residents.
Is Jathan a common name?
We classify Jathan as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jathan most popular?
The single biggest year for Jathan was 2012, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jathan is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jathan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,223 people with the name Jathan, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,750 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jathan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jathan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jathan appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,236 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jathan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jathan is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Black (19.9%) and Hispanic (19.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jathan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jathan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (564 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jathan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jathan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jathan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jathan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jathan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jathan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Jathan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.