John Name Popularity

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How popular is John?

In 2018 the very popular name John, ranked the 27th Most Popular Boys Name in the United States.

Presently one of the top 50 most popular, John has been a top 50 placer since the Social Security Administration began keeping records in 1880.

Position 1, its highest popularity RANKING, was reached for the first time in 1880 and as recently as 1923.

However, the name was bestowed upon the greatest number of babies in 1947 with 88,319 occurrences.

In any year, the least number of babies named John was 6,900 in 1901.

Decidely upward trends in the number of babies given the name John occurred roughly during the years 1897-1900, 1905-1918, and 1939-1947, whereas unequivocal downward movement occurred about 1955-1958, 1964-1976, 1980-1986, 1988-2012, and 2013-2016.

The popularity trend for John has steadily decreased for a while. Of late, continuing the trend, the number of parents selecting the name John for their newborn has dropped.

What does the future hold for the popularity of John?

Overall, when compared to its most prominent year, the name's popularity is at a very low point.

The name John is favored by many parents but will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

Relative to what it once was, John is much less frequently used as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		John (Girl)		John (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		13	8,287	9,119	27
2017		10	10,269	9,486	27
2016		12	9,100	10,013	28
2015		11	9,748	10,386	26
2014		14	8,235	10,691	26
2013		16	7,541	10,713	27
2012		11	10,017	10,621	28
2011		21	6,231	11,049	27
2010		10	10,772	11,556	26
2009		11	10,285	12,118	27
2008		22	6,236	13,315	20
2007		22	6,190	14,432	19
2006		35	4,203	15,166	19
2005		37	3,908	15,768	18
2004		71	2,404	16,449	18
2003		30	4,348	17,232	17
2002		21	5,557	17,455	17
2001		32	3,981	18,889	14
2000		27	4,465	20,096	14
1999		39	3,272	20,348	15
1998		27	4,179	20,627	15
1997		29	3,847	21,385	15
1996		37	3,176	22,182	15
1995		45	2,701	23,240	13
1994		48	2,603	24,179	15
1993		69	2,021	24,989	16
1992		56	2,334	26,242	14
1991		63	2,120	27,800	10
1990		81	1,786	29,077	12
1989		134	1,207	29,846	12
1988		167	988	29,404	11
1987		197	863	29,540	11
1986		220	774	30,207	10
1985		233	744	31,500	9
1984		237	703	32,617	8
1983		266	649	33,153	9
1982		234	730	34,705	8
1981		195	816	34,887	8
1980		251	689	35,279	8
1979		244	695	35,434	7
1978		222	711	34,037	7
1977		218	713	34,227	6
1976		210	703	34,006	6
1975		232	655	35,097	7
1974		253	616	37,638	6
1973		229	655	39,176	6
1972		224	668	43,181	5
1971		272	621	51,518	4
1970		290	601	58,525	4
1969		288	583	58,771	4
1968		304	557	60,929	3
1967		289	554	61,618	4
1966		284	565	65,032	4
1965		252	614	71,541	2
1964		264	622	82,533	2
1963		260	626	78,625	2
1962		284	588	78,429	3
1961		277	606	79,929	3
1960		242	651	76,093	4
1959		231	660	76,407	4
1958		207	686	75,991	5
1957		224	658	78,984	5
1956		224	638	80,790	5
1955		185	688	80,054	5
1954		184	690	81,165	4
1953		164	713	80,190	4
1952		198	626	83,138	3
1951		203	603	81,574	3
1950		179	640	79,424	3
1949		199	588	81,161	3
1948		192	605	82,829	3
1947		203	600	88,319	3
1946		208	548	79,261	3
1945		197	520	66,113	3
1944		180	540	66,610	3
1943		229	490	68,919	3
1942		241	474	66,027	3
1941		221	472	57,515	3
1940		208	463	54,779	3
1939		228	445	51,015	3
1938		216	457	50,519	3
1937		218	445	48,746	3
1936		203	446	47,669	3
1935		208	449	47,499	3
1934		257	408	46,734	3
1933		226	430	46,222	3
1932		298	374	48,617	3
1931		325	356	48,423	3
1930		402	327	52,434	3
1929		411	321	52,113	3
1928		424	322	53,755	2
1927		440	318	55,954	2
1926		385	339	56,110	2
1925		366	356	57,199	2
1924		383	346	59,055	2
1923		335	362	57,470	1
1922		285	385	57,277	1
1921		285	401	58,217	1
1920		281	395	56,913	1
1919		307	370	53,528	1
1918		248	419	56,558	1
1917		253	397	51,853	1
1916		227	411	50,043	1
1915		200	430	47,576	1
1914		169	408	37,948	1
1913		122	449	29,329	1
1912		112	446	24,587	1
1911		68	505	13,446	1
1910		88	422	11,450	1
1909		67	461	9,591	1
1908		58	475	9,342	1
1907		65	445	8,983	1
1906		43	531	8,265	1
1905		43	521	8,060	1
1904		40	524	8,108	1
1903		41	499	7,608	1
1902		38	521	7,907	1
1901		39	485	6,900	1
1900		46	502	9,829	1
1899		40	462	6,990	1
1898		55	416	8,159	1
1897		46	433	7,550	1
1896		50	408	8,138	1
1895		61	360	8,320	1
1894		60	362	8,238	1
1893		61	343	8,049	1
1892		54	363	9,039	1
1891		44	379	7,680	1
1890		56	344	8,502	1
1889		52	346	8,548	1
1888		52	333	9,247	1
1887		56	286	8,110	1
1886		48	300	9,026	1
1885		45	297	8,756	1
1884		40	309	9,388	1
1883		40	279	8,894	1
1882		40	278	9,557	1
1881		26	313	8,769	1
1880		46	229	9,655	1

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.