John Sullivan
There are approximately 2,204 people named John Sullivan living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 155,515 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name John with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Sullivan. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
2,204
1 in 155,515
Named John
2.9M
Alive today
Named Sullivan
257K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 2.9M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Estimated bearers: 257K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #105
Per 100K: 74.92
Top ancestry: White (87.7%)
First name trend
John: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name John. The peak year was 1947 with 88,524 births. The average person named John today is 57 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Sullivan surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Sullivan, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 87.7%.
- White87.7%
- Black or African American7.1%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races1.6%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name John has a living-bearer frequency of 0.8581% of the US population, based on 2,941,241 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Sullivan appears at a rate of 74.92 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0749%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 2,204 people with the full name John Sullivan. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named John
Related
Other people with the surname Sullivan
FAQ
John Sullivan: questions and answers
How many people are named John Sullivan?
We estimate approximately 2,204 people in the United States share the full name John Sullivan. That works out to about 1 in 155,515 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.8581%) with the surname frequency (74.92 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name John Sullivan?
We classify John Sullivan as "Rare". About 1 in 155,515 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is John a male or female name?
John is predominantly male. Out of 5,196,210 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full John profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.