The story in the numbers

167,895 boys have been named Jon in the United States since 1898, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1964, with 4,912 births — 0.25% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 677 → 891).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1966, and the 1960s alone account for 27%. It has spent 103 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 15 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,249 girls have also been given it, 0.74% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Jon

191

540

6,363

19,034

28,949

44,879

28,693

17,706

10,364

6,241

3,579

1,346

In 1964, its biggest year

Jon was the 78th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1964 were Michael, John, David, James and Robert. See all of 1964.

Names that rose and fell with Jon

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.