Jonathanjames
A combination of two masculine names, "Jonathan" meaning "gift of God" and "James" meaning "supplanter".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Jonathanjames. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jonathanjames today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonathanjames births was 1986 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonathanjames. 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 Jonathanjames. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1986
6 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2013 SSA rank
#13,035
Tracked since 1986
Popularity
Jonathanjames: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonathanjames from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 6 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
Jonathanjames 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 Jonathanjames 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 Jonathanjames
The name Jonathanjames is a modern compound name formed by combining the biblical name Jonathan with the name James. Jonathan is a Hebrew name derived from the roots "Yeho" meaning "Yahweh" and "nathan" meaning "he gave." It can be translated as "Yahweh has given" or "gift of God." The name first appeared in the Old Testament, where it was borne by the son of King Saul and a close friend of David.
James is derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, which means "supplanter" or "one who follows." It was the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and the author of the Epistle of James in the New Testament. The English form James came from the French Jacques, which in turn was derived from the late Latin Jacobus.
While the name Jonathanjames itself does not have a long historical record, its components Jonathan and James have been used separately for centuries. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Jonathan was Jonathan Apphus, a Hasmonean prince who ruled parts of ancient Judea in the 1st century BC.
Among the notable figures named Jonathan throughout history are Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), a prominent American philosopher, theologian, and revivalist preacher; Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the Irish author best known for his satirical works like "Gulliver's Travels"; and Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785), a merchant and statesman who served as the Governor of Connecticut during the American Revolutionary War.
As for the name James, some notable bearers include James I of England (1566-1625), the first monarch to rule over the Kingdoms of England and Scotland; James Madison (1751-1836), the fourth President of the United States and a key architect of the U.S. Constitution; and James Watt (1736-1819), the Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer who revolutionized the steam engine.
Other historically significant figures named Jonathan or James include the biblical characters Jonathan the son of Saul, Jonathan the High Priest, and James the brother of Jesus; the English playwright and poet Ben Jonson (1572-1637); and the Scottish explorer James Bruce (1730-1794), who is best known for his travels in Ethiopia and his quest for the source of the Blue Nile.
People
Jonathanjames + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonathanjames 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
Jonathanjames: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonathanjames?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonathanjames 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Jonathanjames a common name?
We classify Jonathanjames as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonathanjames most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonathanjames was 1986, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonathanjames is about 27 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 Jonathanjames in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonathanjames a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonathanjames 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 Jonathanjames still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonathanjames 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 Jonathanjames 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 many people share the name Jonathanjames?
You can see how many people have the name Jonathanjames on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.