Humanverse

Johnathan vs Johnthomas

American parents have registered 98,611 Johnathans since 1880, against 566 Johnthomases. Johnathan is still ahead, with 594 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Johnathan Johnthomas

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 2022, when Johnathan had 598 and Johnthomas had 15.

Side by side

  Johnathan Johnthomas
Total US births 98,611566
Most in one year 3,25318
Babies in 2025 5946
Estimated living today 94,000550
Median age today 2923
Peak year 19901997
Best rank 108th boys3,738th boys
Rank in 2025 508th10,695th
First recorded 18811972
Girls / boys 349 / 98,2620 / 566

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 Johnathans alive today are over 29; half the Johnthomases are over 23. That is 6 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 Johnthomas.