Javonn
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Javon.
Name Census estimates that about 270 living Americans carry the first name Javonn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Javonn today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Javonn births was 1999 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Javonn. 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
270
~ 1 in 1,269,461 Americans
Peak year
1999
15 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,160
Tracked since 1980
Popularity
Javonn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Javonn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 105 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Javonn 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 Javonn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Javonn
The name Javonn is believed to have its origins in the African Xhosa language, derived from the word "javonna" which means "to bring forth" or "to give life." This name was first used in the region of present-day South Africa during the 17th century.
While the exact origins are unclear, some scholars suggest that the name may have been influenced by the Khoikhoi people, an indigenous population of southern Africa, who used similar-sounding words to describe the act of childbirth or the arrival of a newborn child.
In the early 19th century, the name Javonn was recorded in the baptismal records of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town, South Africa. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Javonn Arendse, born in 1812, who was a farmer and community leader in the Cape Colony.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the name Javonn gained popularity among the Xhosa and other Bantu-speaking communities in southern Africa. Javonn Maqoma (1798-1873) was a prominent Xhosa chief who led his people in several wars against British colonial forces.
Another notable figure was Javonn Ngubengcuka (1848-1928), a Xhosa leader and spiritual advisor who played a significant role in the Xhosa cattle-killing movement of the 1850s, which had profound cultural and social implications for the Xhosa people.
In the mid-20th century, the name Javonn found its way to the United States, likely brought by African immigrants or those with ties to southern Africa. One of the earliest documented cases was Javonn Williams (1920-1998), an influential jazz musician and composer from New Orleans.
Javonn Sayers (1946-2009) was a renowned African-American basketball player who played in the NBA for the Baltimore Bullets and the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1970s and was known for his defensive skills and rebounding prowess.
People
Javonn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Javonn 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
Javonn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Javonn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Javonn 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 1,269,461 US residents.
Is Javonn a common name?
We classify Javonn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 275 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Javonn most popular?
The single biggest year for Javonn was 1999, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Javonn is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Javonn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Javonn 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.
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.