Johann
A masculine given name of Germanic origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 4,915 living Americans carry the first name Johann. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Johann today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johann births was 2010 (222 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johann. 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
- • Johann was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,736 Americans
Peak year
2010
222 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,792
Tracked since 1912
Gender
Gender distribution for Johann
Johann leans heavily male at 88.0% of total registrations, but 650 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Johann as a male name
- Ranked #1,792 in 2024
- 91 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (222 births)
Johann as a female name
- Ranked #17,314 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1934 (26 births)
Popularity
Johann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johann from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,570 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johann 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 Johann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johanns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Johann, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 118 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johann
The name Johann has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, derived from the name Yochanan meaning "Yahweh is gracious." This name later evolved into the Greek form Ioannes and the Latin Johannes.
The name Johann gained widespread popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in Germanic regions. It became a common name among Germans, Austrians, and Dutch, with variations such as Hans, Hannes, and Jan.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Johann can be found in the Bible's New Testament, where John the Baptist and John the Apostle are mentioned. The name also appears in various medieval manuscripts and historical records from the 9th century onwards.
Throughout history, numerous notable individuals have borne the name Johann. One of the most renowned is Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), the legendary German composer and musician whose works have had a profound impact on Western classical music.
Another famous Johann is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), a German writer, poet, and philosopher who is widely regarded as one of the greatest literary figures of the modern era. His works, such as "Faust" and "The Sorrows of Young Werther," have left an indelible mark on literature.
Johann Gutenberg (c. 1400-1468), the German inventor credited with the introduction of the printing press with movable type, revolutionized the spread of knowledge and facilitated the Renaissance by making books more accessible.
In the realm of science, Johann Kepler (1571-1630), a German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer, is renowned for his laws of planetary motion and contributions to the scientific revolution.
Finally, Johann Strauss (1825-1899), an Austrian composer known as the "Waltz King," composed numerous waltzes, polkas, and operettas that became synonymous with Viennese culture and remain beloved to this day.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Johann
People
Johann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johann 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
Johann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,915 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johann 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 69,736 US residents.
Is Johann a common name?
We classify Johann as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,434 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johann most popular?
The single biggest year for Johann was 2010, when 222 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johann is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Johann a male name?
Yes, 88.0% of people registered as Johann 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.