Jocko
A masculine diminutive of the name Joseph, ultimately derived from Hebrew meaning "He will add".
Name Census estimates that about 57 living Americans carry the first name Jocko. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jocko today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jocko births was 2022 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jocko. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jocko. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
57
~ 1 in 6,013,234 Americans
Peak year
2022
14 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,547
Tracked since 1955
Popularity
Jocko: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jocko from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 49 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jocko 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 Jocko 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 Jocko
The name Jocko has its origins in the English language, and it is believed to have emerged during the 17th century. It is a diminutive form of the name Joseph, which has Hebrew roots and means "he will add" or "he will increase." The name Jocko was likely derived from the nickname "Jock," which was a common English diminutive for names like John and Joseph.
In the English-speaking world, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jocko can be found in the diary of Samuel Pepys, a prominent figure in 17th-century England. Pepys mentioned a man named Jocko in his diary entries from the year 1665, suggesting that the name was in use during that period.
The name Jocko gained some prominence in the 18th century with the rise of the sport of bare-knuckle boxing in England. One of the most famous bare-knuckle boxers of that era was Jocko Wilkinson, who was active in the 1770s and is considered one of the first professional boxers in English history. His real name was John Wilkinson, but he was widely known by the nickname Jocko.
Another notable individual with the name Jocko was Jocko Graves, an American frontiersman and explorer who lived in the early 19th century. Graves was born in 1795 and is known for his adventures in the American West, where he worked as a trapper, guide, and interpreter among Native American tribes.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Jocko was Jocko Sims, an American actor and singer who was born in 1914. Sims had a successful career in Hollywood, appearing in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He is particularly remembered for his roles in musicals and his work on Broadway.
Another notable figure with the name Jocko was Jocko Conlan, an American Major League Baseball player who played for several teams in the 1940s and 1950s. Conlan was born in 1913 and had a notable career as a first baseman, playing for teams like the Chicago White Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics.
While the name Jocko may not be as common today as it once was, it has a rich history and is deeply rooted in English language and culture. Its origins can be traced back to the 17th century, and it has been associated with various notable individuals over the centuries, from bare-knuckle boxers to frontiersmen, actors, and professional athletes.
People
Jocko + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jocko 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
Jocko: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jocko?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 57 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jocko 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 6,013,234 US residents.
Is Jocko a common name?
We classify Jocko as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 59 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jocko most popular?
The single biggest year for Jocko was 2022, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jocko is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Jocko in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jocko a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jocko 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 Jocko still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jocko 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 Jocko 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Jocko?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.