Jonah
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "dove".
Name Census estimates that about 80,896 living Americans carry the first name Jonah. It sits at #126 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Jonah today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonah births was 2008 (2,998 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonah. 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
- • Although Jonah is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 752 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Jonah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
81K
~ 1 in 4,237 Americans
Peak year
2008
2,998 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#126
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Jonah
Out of the 83,176 babies given the name Jonah since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Jonah as a male name
- Ranked #126 in 2024
- 2,879 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (2,981 births)
Jonah as a female name
- Ranked #5,198 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (36 births)
Popularity
Jonah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 28,288 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jonah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jonah 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 Jonah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jonahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jonah, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,555 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jonah
The given name Jonah has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "Yonah," which means "dove" or "pigeon." The name's roots can be traced back to around the 8th century BCE.
Jonah is a prominent name in the Bible, appearing in the Book of Jonah, which recounts the story of the prophet who was swallowed by a giant fish or whale. The narrative is believed to have been written between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jonah can be found in the Bible. Jonah, the son of Amittai, was a prophet from Gath-hepher in ancient Israel who played a pivotal role in the biblical narrative.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jonah. One of the most famous was Jonah Ibn Janah, a renowned Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer who lived in Spain from around 990 to 1050 CE. His works significantly influenced the study of Hebrew grammar and linguistics.
Another historical figure named Jonah was Jonah Furman, a prominent American Revolutionary War soldier. He was born in 1735 and served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, participating in several key battles.
In the realm of literature, Jonah Ludwig Hallgarten was a German-American writer and translator born in 1838. He is known for his translations of works by notable authors like Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson from Norwegian to English.
Jonah Barrington was an Irish writer, judge, and politician who lived from 1756 to 1834. He is remembered for his memoirs, which provide valuable insights into the social and political climate of Ireland during his lifetime.
Lastly, Jonah Lomu was a legendary New Zealand rugby union player who was born in 1975 and passed away in 2015. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest rugby players of all time, known for his incredible size, speed, and power on the field.
People
Jonah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonah 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
Jonah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 80,896 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonah 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 4,237 US residents.
Is Jonah a common name?
We classify Jonah as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 83,176 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonah was 2008, when 2,998 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonah is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jonah a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Jonah 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.