Find out how popular the last name Jonah is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Jonah.

Jonah, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Jonah surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jonah in America

Jonah is the 66164th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jonah surname appeared 299 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Jonah.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jonah to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Jonah

The surname Jonah is of Hebrew origin, derived from the name Jonah, which means "dove" in Hebrew. It is believed to have originated as a surname in the Middle Ages, when Jews began to adopt hereditary surnames.

The name Jonah has Biblical roots, as it appears in the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament. The prophet Jonah is a central figure in this book, which tells the story of his journey to Nineveh and his miraculous survival after being swallowed by a giant fish.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Jonah can be found in the Doomsday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England conducted in 1086. The name appears as "Jona" and is listed among the tenants of various manors.

In the 13th century, a prominent Jewish scholar named Rabbi Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi, also known as Rabbenu Jonah, lived in Spain. He is best known for his influential work on Jewish ethics, "Shaarei Teshuvah" (Gates of Repentance).

During the Renaissance period, a German mathematician and astronomer named Jonah Muller (1532-1617) made significant contributions to the development of logarithms and the calculation of planetary orbits.

In the 18th century, Jonah Schick (1743-1805) was a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi in Germany. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud and his work on Jewish law.

Another notable figure with the surname Jonah is Sir Jonah Barrington (1756-1834), an Irish judge and writer who served as a judge in the Court of Admiralty in Ireland. He is known for his memoirs, which provide valuable insights into the social and political life of 18th-century Ireland.

In the 20th century, Jonah Jones (1908-2000) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who was known for his mellow and relaxed style of playing. He was a pioneering figure in the development of the cool jazz genre.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jonah

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Jonah.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Jonah was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Jonah has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Jonah was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Jonah, please contact us.

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