Joahan
A name of uncertain origin, possibly Dutch or Arabic.
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Joahan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Joahan today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joahan births was 2002 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joahan. 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
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2002
44 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2005 SSA rank
#7,378
Tracked since 2000
Census
Joahan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Joahan, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joahan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joahan is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.3%). 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 Joahan 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 Joahan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.2% · 146
- White3.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Joahan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Joahan 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 Joahan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 143 | 0 | 143 |
Geography
Where Joahans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Joahan
The name Joahan has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, which means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God is merciful." The name gained popularity during the Biblical era and is mentioned in various religious texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Bible, where Joahan is referred to as the son of Kareah, a captain of the forces in the book of Jeremiah. This reference dates back to around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian exile.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Joahan. One of the most famous was Joahan ben Zakkai, a Jewish scholar and leader who lived in the 1st century CE. He is credited with playing a crucial role in the preservation of Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
Another prominent figure was Joahan of Alexandria, a 7th-century Coptic Christian theologian and philosopher. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, and his works influenced the development of knowledge in the medieval Islamic world.
In the 12th century, there was Joahan of Salisbury, an English philosopher and scholar who served as the Bishop of Chartres. He was a prominent figure in the Renaissance of the 12th century and wrote extensively on various subjects, including logic, ethics, and political theory.
During the 15th century, Joahan Gutenberg, a German inventor and printer, revolutionized the world with his invention of the movable-type printing press. His innovative work facilitated the mass production of books and greatly contributed to the spread of knowledge and literacy across Europe.
Lastly, in the 16th century, Joahan Calvin, a French theologian and pastor, played a pivotal role in the Protestant Reformation. His teachings and writings, particularly his seminal work "Institutes of the Christian Religion," had a profound impact on the development of Calvinism and the Reformed tradition of Christianity.
People
Joahan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joahan 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
Joahan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joahan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joahan 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Joahan a common name?
We classify Joahan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joahan most popular?
The single biggest year for Joahan was 2002, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joahan is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joahan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Joahan, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Joahan 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 Joahan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joahan leans strongly male. 138 people counted with this name were male (90.2%), compared with 15 female bearers (9.8%). 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 Joahan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joahan is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.3%). 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 Joahan most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Joahan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (146 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 Joahan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joahan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joahan 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 Joahan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joahan 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 Joahan 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 named Joahan?
Want to know how many Americans are named Joahan? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.