Jonalyn
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a feminine form of "Jonathan".
Name Census estimates that about 204 living Americans carry the first name Jonalyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jonalyn today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonalyn births was 1970 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonalyn. 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
204
~ 1 in 1,680,168 Americans
Peak year
1970
11 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2019 SSA rank
#16,651
Tracked since 1951
Census
Jonalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 725 people with the first name Jonalyn, which placed it at #15,757 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
#15,757
National first-name rank
People counted
725
725 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
67.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonalyn is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander67.4% · 489
- White21.5% · 156
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 28
- Two or more races3.7% · 27
- Black or African American2.9% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Jonalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonalyn from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 54 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Jonalyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn
The name Jonalyn is a modern variation of the Hebrew name Jonah, which means "dove" or "peace." It is a combination of the name Jonah and the common feminine suffix "-lyn." The name Jonah first appeared in the Old Testament of the Bible, as the name of a prophet who was swallowed by a large fish.
Jonah is believed to have lived in the 8th century B.C. and is known for his prophetic mission to the city of Nineveh. The story of Jonah and the whale is one of the most well-known tales in the Bible, and it has been depicted in various works of art throughout history.
While the name Jonalyn is a relatively modern creation, it is rooted in ancient Hebrew tradition. The earliest recorded use of the name Jonalyn is difficult to pinpoint, as it is a variation of the more common name Jonah. However, some notable individuals throughout history have borne the name Jonalyn.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jonalyn is Jonalyn Reilly (1925-2018), an American actress and singer who appeared in various films and television shows throughout the mid-20th century. Another notable Jonalyn is Jonalyn Saxer (born 1956), an American lawyer and politician who served as the Mayor of Largo, Florida, from 2014 to 2018.
In the literary world, Jonalyn Fincher (born 1947) is an American author and poet who has published several collections of poetry and short stories. Jonalyn Krieger (born 1973) is an American artist and illustrator known for her children's books and fantasy artwork.
Lastly, Jonalyn Viray (born 1992) is a Filipino-American model and beauty queen who won the Miss Intercontinental Philippines title in 2019.
While the name Jonalyn is not as common as its root name Jonah, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and modern variant. The name's connection to the biblical story of Jonah and the whale adds a rich historical and cultural significance to its meaning and origin.
People
Jonalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonalyn 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
Jonalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonalyn 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 1,680,168 US residents.
Is Jonalyn a common name?
We classify Jonalyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 223 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonalyn was 1970, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonalyn is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jonalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 725 people with the name Jonalyn, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,757 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 Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonalyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 725 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jonalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonalyn is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.4%. The next largest groups are White (21.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Jonalyn most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Jonalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.4% (489 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 Jonalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonalyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonalyn in the SSA data are female. 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 Jonalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn 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 Jonalyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Jonalyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.