Jotham
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is perfect".
Name Census estimates that about 651 living Americans carry the first name Jotham. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jotham today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jotham births was 2013 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jotham. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jotham with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
651
~ 1 in 526,504 Americans
Peak year
2013
36 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,916
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jotham in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 568 people with the first name Jotham, which placed it at #18,854 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
#18,854
National first-name rank
People counted
568
568 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jotham
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jotham is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (28.0%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Jotham 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 Jotham at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.9% · 255
- Black or African American28.0% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.2% · 58
- Two or more races4.6% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Jotham: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jotham from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 273 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jotham remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jotham 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 Jotham during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jothams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jotham
The name Jotham has its origins in the Hebrew language and is derived from the Hebrew word "yotham," which means "Jehovah is perfect" or "the Lord is upright." This name has significant historical and religious connotations, particularly in Jewish and Christian traditions.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Jotham can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. Jotham was the son of King Uzziah and the eleventh king of Judah, who reigned from around 750 to 735 BCE. The Book of Chronicles and the Book of Kings in the Bible provide accounts of his life and reign.
In the Middle Ages, the name Jotham was used sporadically in various parts of Europe, particularly in England and Germany. However, it was not a widely popular name during this period. One notable figure bearing this name was Jotham of Brendloier, a German nobleman who lived in the 13th century.
During the Puritan era in England and the American colonies, the name Jotham experienced a resurgence in popularity among Puritans. They often chose biblical names for their children, and Jotham was seen as a virtuous and honorable name. One prominent individual with this name was Jotham Bradbury (1718-1795), an American jurist and politician from Massachusetts.
In the 19th century, the name Jotham was relatively uncommon but still used in some parts of the English-speaking world. Jotham Blanchard (1809-1892) was an American Congregational minister and educator who founded Wheaton College in Illinois.
Another notable figure with this name was Jotham Potter Allds (1816-1899), an American Baptist minister and abolitionist who served as the first president of Ottawa University in Kansas.
As the 20th century progressed, the name Jotham became increasingly rare, but it has never completely fallen out of use. Jotham Johnson (1905-1967) was an American artist and illustrator best known for his paintings depicting scenes from American history and the Old West.
Despite its relative rarity, the name Jotham has maintained a unique and distinct identity throughout history, carrying with it the weight of its biblical and religious origins.
People
Jotham + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jotham 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
Jotham: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jotham?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 651 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jotham 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 526,504 US residents.
Is Jotham a common name?
We classify Jotham as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 663 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jotham most popular?
The single biggest year for Jotham was 2013, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jotham is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jotham in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 568 people with the name Jotham, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,854 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 Jotham 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 Jotham?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jotham appears almost entirely male. Of the 564 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jotham?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jotham is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (28.0%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Jotham most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jotham in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (255 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 Jotham in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jotham a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jotham 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 Jotham still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jotham 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 Jotham 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 have the name Jotham?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Jotham on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.