Jonis
An English masculine name derived from the Hebrew name Jonah, meaning "dove".
Name Census estimates that about 50 living Americans carry the first name Jonis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jonis today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonis births was 2003 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonis. 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 Jonis. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
50
~ 1 in 6,855,087 Americans
Peak year
2003
7 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,988
Tracked since 1997
Census
Jonis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Jonis, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonis is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.1%) and Black (20.2%). 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 Jonis 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 Jonis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.7% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino33.1% · 54
- Black or African American20.2% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 11
- Two or more races5.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Jonis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonis from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 36 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jonis 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 Jonis 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 Jonis
The given name Jonis has its origins in the ancient Lithuanian language, dating back to the 14th century. It is derived from the Lithuanian word "jonas," which means "gracious" or "merciful." The name gained popularity in the Baltic region and was initially used by Lithuanian nobility and aristocracy.
In the 15th century, the name Jonis was mentioned in several Lithuanian chronicles and historical records, particularly those documenting the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. One notable bearer of the name was Jonis Vailokaitis, a prominent Lithuanian noble and military leader who fought against the Teutonic Knights in the early 15th century.
The name Jonis also has religious connotations, as it is a variation of the Hebrew name "Yohanan," which means "Yahweh is gracious." This connection to the biblical name John allowed Jonis to gain popularity among Lithuanian Christians during the Middle Ages.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jonis. One of the earliest recorded examples is Jonis Biliunas (1879-1907), a renowned Lithuanian writer and playwright who made significant contributions to the country's literature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another prominent figure was Jonis Zemaitis (1909-1954), a Lithuanian partisan leader who fought against Soviet occupation during and after World War II. His resistance efforts earned him the title of "General Vietra" (General Storm) and he is revered as a national hero in Lithuania.
In the realm of art, Jonis Kuzmickis (1881-1963) was a notable Lithuanian painter and one of the pioneers of Lithuanian modernist art. His works, characterized by vibrant colors and bold brushstrokes, are celebrated for their unique style and contribution to the country's cultural heritage.
Jonis Biliukas (1900-1965), a Lithuanian-American writer and journalist, made significant contributions to Lithuanian literature in the United States. His works, which often explored themes of immigration and cultural identity, helped preserve and promote Lithuanian culture among the diaspora community.
Finally, Jonis Zekavicas (1954-2021) was a prominent Lithuanian basketball player and coach. He played for the Soviet Union national team and won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. After retiring as a player, he had a successful coaching career, leading several Lithuanian teams to national and international championships.
People
Jonis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonis 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
Jonis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonis 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 6,855,087 US residents.
Is Jonis a common name?
We classify Jonis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 51 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonis most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonis was 2003, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonis is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jonis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Jonis, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Jonis 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 Jonis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonis leans strongly male. 135 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 18 female bearers (11.8%). 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 Jonis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonis is White at 33.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.1%) and Black (20.2%). 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 Jonis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jonis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.7% (55 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 Jonis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonis 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 Jonis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonis 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 Jonis 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 called Jonis?
You can see how many Americans are named Jonis on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.