Humanverse

Johnny vs Johnthomas

American parents have registered 321,696 Johnnys since 1880, against 566 Johnthomases. Johnny is still ahead, with 690 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Johnny against Johnthomas, 1880 to 2025 0 2k 4k 6k 8k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Johnny 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

Johnny has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2022, when Johnny had 806 and Johnthomas had 15.

Side by side

  Johnny Johnthomas
Total US births 321,696566
Most in one year 7,49718
Babies in 2025 6906
Estimated living today 216,000550
Median age today 5823
Peak year 19471997
Best rank 49th boys3,738th boys
Rank in 2025 457th10,695th
First recorded 18801972
Girls / boys 3,778 / 317,9180 / 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 Johnnys alive today are over 58; half the Johnthomases are over 23. That is 35 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: Johnny and Johnthomas.