Humanverse

Johnathan vs Johnthan

American parents have registered 98,611 Johnathans since 1880, against 792 Johnthans. Johnathan is still ahead, with 594 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Johnathan Johnthan

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 1954, when Johnathan had 78 and Johnthan had 5.

Side by side

  Johnathan Johnthan
Total US births 98,611792
Most in one year 3,25336
Babies in 2025 594under 5
Estimated living today 94,000740
Median age today 2936
Peak year 19901991
Best rank 108th boys2,052nd boys
Rank in 2025 508thunranked
First recorded 18811954
Girls / boys 349 / 98,2620 / 792

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 Johnthans alive today are over 36; half the Johnathans are over 29. That is 7 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

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