Jock
Diminutive form of the name "John", derived from the Greek "Ioannes".
Name Census estimates that about 818 living Americans carry the first name Jock. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jock today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jock births was 1957 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jock. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jock with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
818
~ 1 in 419,015 Americans
Peak year
1957
46 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2009 SSA rank
#11,650
Tracked since 1916
Census
Jock in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 820 people with the first name Jock, which placed it at #14,393 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
#14,393
National first-name rank
People counted
820
820 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jock
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jock is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Jock 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 Jock at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.5% · 529
- Black or African American24.6% · 202
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 29
- Two or more races2.9% · 24
Popularity
Jock: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jock from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 288 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jock 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 Jock during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jocks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jock, while Texas, Louisiana, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jock
The given name Jock is a diminutive form of the name John, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name John became popular in Europe after being brought by early Christian missionaries.
The shortened form Jock first appeared in Scotland in the late Middle Ages, likely derived from the Middle English "Jock" or "Jok," which were pet forms of the name John. It was particularly common in the Scottish Lowlands and was often used as a nickname or term of endearment.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jock can be found in the 15th century Scottish poem "The Brus" by John Barbour, where a character named "Jok" is mentioned. The name also appears in various Scottish literary works and historical records from the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Jock became closely associated with Scottish culture and identity. It was frequently used as a stereotypical representation of a Scottish man, particularly in literature and popular culture.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Jock include:
1. Jock Lesly (c. 1510 - c. 1570), a Scottish Renaissance poet and courtier during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots.
2. Jock Hume (c. 1568 - 1634), a Scottish poet and minister who wrote in both Scots and English.
3. Jock Gillespie (1737 - 1770), a Scottish highwayman and outlaw who operated in the Highlands.
4. Jock Munro (1819 - 1857), a Scottish soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Indian Mutiny.
5. Jock Stein (1922 - 1985), a famous Scottish football player and manager who led Celtic to numerous domestic and European successes.
While the name Jock was more commonly used as a nickname or diminutive in Scotland, it has also been adopted as a given name in its own right, particularly in English-speaking countries with Scottish heritage or influence.
People
Jock + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jock 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
Jock: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jock?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 818 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jock 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 419,015 US residents.
Is Jock a common name?
We classify Jock as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,090 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jock most popular?
The single biggest year for Jock was 1957, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jock is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jock in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 820 people with the name Jock, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,393 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 Jock 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 Jock?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jock appears almost entirely male. Of the 821 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Jock?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jock is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Jock most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jock in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.5% (529 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 Jock in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jock a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jock 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 Jock still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jock 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 Jock 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 Jock?
Find out how many people have the name Jock on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.