Humanverse

Johnathan vs Johnross

American parents have registered 98,611 Johnathans since 1880, against 72 Johnrosses. Johnathan is still ahead, with 594 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnathan against Johnross, 1880 to 2025 0 1k 2k 3k 4k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnathan Johnross

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Johnathan has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1881 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2015, when Johnathan had 1,161 and Johnross had 9.

Side by side

  Johnathan Johnross
Total US births 98,61172
Most in one year 3,25311
Babies in 2025 594under 5
Estimated living today 94,00070
Median age today 2934
Peak year 19901982
Best rank 108th boys3,692nd boys
Rank in 2025 508thunranked
First recorded 18811982
Girls / boys 349 / 98,2620 / 72

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Johnrosses alive today are over 34; half the Johnathans are over 29. That is 5 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Johnathan and Johnross.