John is a male first name. In very rare cases it is also used for girls.
The first name John is one of the top 100 most popular boys names in the US – currently at #24 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named John, accounting for approximately 0.50 % of all newborn boys. In total, there are currently 4,884,301 people – children, adults and seniors – named John living in the United States, which is approximately 1.5 % of the entire population.
The first name John has a Semitic origin and comes from the Hebrew words ‘Yôḥānān’ or ‘Yəhôḥānān’, which means ‘Yahweh has been gracious’ or ‘Yahweh is merciful’. There are numerous forms of the name in different languages such as Jon, ]Johann, [Johannes] or Jannis.
Who is YHWH? YHWH is pronounced Yahweh, the name for the God of the Israelites as it was revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus.
John Lennon (1940 -1980)
John Lennon was a British musician, singer and songwriter who became famous as a member of the Beatles. With the Beatles he had numerous hits such as 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' (1964), 'Yesterday' (1988) and 'Imagine' (1971). After the breakup (1970) of the band, he continued as a solo artist. In addition to his musical career, he regularly campaigned as a peace activist with his wife Yoko Ono. On December 8, 1980, he was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman in New York City.
John Wayne (1907 -1979)
John Wayne, also known as Duke Wayne or The Duke, was an American actor who appeared primarily in Western films. He had his breakthrough in 1939 with the film 'Ringo', which is considered one of the most important classics in American film history. Wayne has appeared in about 140 films: some of his best-known films are 'Stagecoach' (1939), 'The Searchers' (1956) and 'True Grit' (1969), for which he received an Oscar nomination. In addition to acting, he also worked as a producer and director.
John Constantine
John Constantine is a fictional character, an anti-hero, who appears in comics published by DC Comics and its Vertigo line. His first appearing was in 'Swamp Thing' #37 (1985). Constantine is an always trenchcoat-wearing warlock and occult detective. He tries to protect the world from demons and other supernatural threats - frequently by cheating and deceiving.
John D. Rockefeller (1839 - 1937
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. was an American entrepreneur, the first billionaire in the history of the world (in 1916, calculated in U.S. dollars) and is considered one of the richest people of modern times. Rockefeller was a co-founder of an oil refinery, which became the Standard Oil Company in 1870. He was also a well-known philanthropist and gave generously to educational and charitable organizations. Nevertheless, he was also criticized for his business practices and monopolization.
John F. Kennedy (1917 -1963)
John F. Kennedy, also known as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party and is considered one of the most famous and admired presidents of the United States. Among his accomplishments during his presidency were the introduction of the 'New Frontier' programs to promote the economy and the establishment of the Peace Corps. Kennedy was shot and killed on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, during a campaign rally.
Little John
He is a fictional character from the legend of 'Robin Hood'. Little John is one of Robin Hood's closest friends and companions and plays an important role in the stories about Robin Hood and his gang. Little John is most often depicted as Robin Hood's right-hand man, while others portray him as a former robber or soldier who joins Robin Hood. He is also known for his intelligence and his skills in battle.
When you hear the name John, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name John? Are you also called John? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
is a beach on the south coast of Livingston Island in the archipelago of South Shetland. It is located on the west side of the entrance to Walker Bay.
is the second largest city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. There are several other places in the world that also bear the name Saint John.
of the Moon you will find St. John, an eroded lunar impact crater, that is named after Charles Edward St. John, an American astronomer.
is a right tributary of the Koyukuk River in the Interior of the U.S. state of Alaska. The caribou herd 'Arctic' uses the valley of the river on their migrations.
44 - this is the count with which the first name John has reached the top position, i.e. rank 1, of the most popular first names for boys in the USA. Admittedly, the last time was a while ago, in the year 1923, when 57,804 newborn boys were given this beautiful name. And even if it wasn't on top in the recent past, it has been given by new parents to their sons every year since first name statistics began in 1880, putting it in the exclusive circle of only 442 first names for boys that are given at least 5 times a year in the USA. This makes John a classic first name and a part of the traditional American identity.
In years where the graph has no value, the name John was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
In 2022, the first name John was given 7,937 times to newborn boys, ranking it #28. The name was given least in the year 2019, where it ranked #30 – only 8,845 newborn boys were given this first name then.
John is one of the most common names in the U.S. – in all states combined, 4,884,301 people would currently turn around if you called out JOHN really loud. Across all states and age groups, this lands John on position 2 in our SmartGenius ranking of the top male names – of course, the current popularity as a baby name for newborns looks somewhat different, as you can see from the statistics above. With so many people named John it’s no surprise that the name is widely used in every single state in the U.S., but would you have guessed that John is especially popular in Massachusetts? Here, John is the most widespread of all male names. A total of 200,289 men and boys called John currently live in Massachusetts – which is 4,88% of all male residents. No other state has as many men named John in relation to its population.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter J is the most popular first letter for boys’ names. 10.1% of all common boys’ names in the US start with this letter. The second most common first letter in boys’ names is A.
With four letters, the name John is shorter than most other given names. In fact, only 5.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly four letters. Just 1.2% of all first names are even shorter, while 93% consist of more than four letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
That means that if 10.1% of all boys’ names start with a J, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And, by the way, of all the boys’ names that begin with the letter J, the name James is the most common.
If your name is John and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name John, you can simply say:
Joker
Orange
Hat
Nut
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
John
John
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
J
O
H
N
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
J
O
H
N
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. John sounds like this:
