Humanverse

Johnie vs Johnthomas

American parents have registered 26,074 Johnies since 1880, against 566 Johnthomases. Johnie is still ahead, with 15 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnie against Johnthomas, 1880 to 2025 0 250 500 750 1k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnie 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

Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Johnie for 134 years and Johnthomas for 12 years. The lead changed hands 12 times.

8 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.

Side by side

  Johnie Johnthomas
Total US births 26,074566
Most in one year 85418
Babies in 2025 156
Estimated living today 4,900550
Median age today 6923
Peak year 19201997
Best rank 190th boys3,738th boys
Rank in 2025 7,679th10,695th
First recorded 18801972
Girls / boys 5,144 / 20,9300 / 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 Johnies alive today are over 69; half the Johnthomases are over 23. That is 46 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: Johnie and Johnthomas.