Namesake.

John

Boy Hebrew #16249 in 2023

John is a boy name of Hebrew origin.

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Meaning of John

Very popular since the Middle Ages. From John, Johan, Johannes, from Jehan, Johan, and also Iohannes, both from Iōhannēs, variant of Iōannēs, from Ἰωάννης, from יוֹחָנָן, perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן.

Popularity of John

Popularity, 1880–2023
7,798 births in 2023
1880 2023

5,166,423 U.S. births recorded from 1880–2023. Used for both boys and girls — see notes below.

Peak year
1947
88,524 babies
First recorded
1880
Earliest SSA data
Recent trend
Falling
Last 5 yrs vs. prior 5

Prophet

يَحْيَى

Yaḥyā

Yahya (John the Baptist) is the son of Zakariya, given to his parents as a miracle in their old age. The Qur’an praises him for his purity, humility, and devotion.

From the Qur’an

"O Zakariya, indeed We give you good tidings of a boy whose name will be Yahya. We have not assigned to any before [this] name."

— Qur’an, Maryam 19:7

"O Yahya, take the Scripture with determination. And We gave him judgment [while yet] a boy, and affection from Us and purity, and he was fearing of Allah."

— Qur’an, Maryam 19:12-13

John / Yahya / Yochanan

John the Baptist, named in the Qur’an as Yahya — the prophet who heralded Isa. His Hebrew name Yochanan means “Yahweh is gracious.”

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About this page

Popularity counts come from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national dataset. Etymology adapted from Wiktionary under CC BY-SA 4.0. If you spot an error, please let us know.