How Many People Are Named Jonah?
An estimated 80,896 people in the United States have the first name Jonah. It is predominantly male (99.1%). The average bearer is 18 years old, and Jonah peaked in popularity in 2008 with 2,998 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Jonah as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Jonah paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Jonah is overwhelmingly male, 752 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Jonah is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 18, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
80,896
About 1 in 4,237 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.1% confidence
Average Age
18
years old
Peak Year
2008
2,998 births
Total Registered
83,176
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Jonah
Jonah is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 83,176 total births registered, 99.1% were male.
Jonah as a male name
Ranked #126 in 2024
2,879 male births in 2024
Peak: 2008 (2,981 births)
Jonah as a female name
Ranked #5,198 in 2024
25 female births in 2024
Peak: 2018 (36 births)
Jonah: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Jonah span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 28,288 babies were registered. While Jonah is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Jonah by Decade
How has Jonah tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 79 | 79 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 65 | 65 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 71 | 71 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 222 | 222 | 0 | |
| 1920s | 329 | 329 | 0 | |
| 1930s | 252 | 252 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 249 | 249 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 298 | 298 | 0 | |
| 1960s | 309 | 304 | 5 | |
| 1970s | 1,789 | 1,767 | 22 | |
| 1980s | 2,943 | 2,891 | 52 | |
| 1990s | 10,199 | 10,073 | 126 | |
| 2000s | 23,880 | 23,696 | 184 | |
| 2010s | 28,288 | 28,051 | 237 | |
| 2020s | 14,203 | 14,077 | 126 | |
Jonah by State
Birth registrations for Jonah span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware. On average, about 1,555 Jonahs were registered per state.
Jonah + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Jonah
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
Jonah: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonah?
We estimate approximately 80,896 people named Jonah are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,237 Americans share this first name.
Is Jonah a common name?
Jonah is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 83,176 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Jonah most popular?
Jonah reached peak popularity in 2008, when 2,998 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Jonah is approximately 18 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Jonah a male name?
Jonah is predominantly male. 99.1% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Jonah Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Jonah Smith, Jonah Johnson, Jonah Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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