Jordan
A unisex name of Semitic origin meaning "flowing down".
Name Census estimates that about 518,558 living Americans carry the first name Jordan. It sits at #104 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Jordan today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jordan births was 1990 (22,094 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jordan. 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
519K
~ 1 in 661 Americans
Peak year
1990
22,094 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#104
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Jordan
Jordan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 533,499 total registrations, 398,415 (74.7%) were male and 135,084 (25.3%) were female.
Jordan as a male name
- Ranked #104 in 2024
- 3,326 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (16,137 births)
Jordan as a female name
- Ranked #539 in 2024
- 559 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (7,166 births)
Popularity
Jordan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jordan from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 206,509 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jordan 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 Jordan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jordans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jordan, while Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10,369 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jordan
The name Jordan has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language and is derived from the word "yarad," meaning "to descend" or "to flow down." It is believed to have originated as a reference to the Jordan River, one of the most significant water sources in the Middle East.
The Jordan River holds great historical and religious significance, as it is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, playing a crucial role in the narratives of the Old and New Testaments. The river is closely associated with the life and ministry of John the Baptist, who baptized people, including Jesus Christ, in its waters.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jordan can be found in the Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the river that the Israelites crossed on their journey to the Promised Land. In the second century AD, the name Jordan appears in the works of Ptolemy, a renowned Greek astronomer and geographer.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jordan. One of the most famous was Jordan of Saxony (1191-1237), a Dominican friar and medieval philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of natural science and logic.
Another notable Jordan was Jordan of Giano (c. 1290-1360), an Italian physician and philosopher who wrote extensively on various subjects, including mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
In the 16th century, Jordan Nemore (c. 1500-1559) was a German mathematician and astronomer known for his work on planetary theory and his criticism of the Copernican heliocentric model.
During the 17th century, Jordan Statius (1567-1654), a Dutch jurist and diplomat, played an important role in the establishment of the Dutch East India Company and the colonization of parts of Southeast Asia.
In more recent times, Jordan Lewis (1865-1945) was an African-American educator and civil rights activist who fought for equal rights and educational opportunities for Black Americans in the early 20th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jordan
People
Jordan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jordan 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
Jordan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jordan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 518,558 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jordan 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 661 US residents.
Is Jordan a common name?
We classify Jordan as "Very Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 533,499 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jordan most popular?
The single biggest year for Jordan was 1990, when 22,094 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jordan is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jordan a male name?
Yes, 74.7% of people registered as Jordan 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.