# Jonah (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/jonah/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “dove” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒoʊnə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 86,075 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 85,283 / 792 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 7,630, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From the Hebrew יוֹנָה (yônâh, “dove”). Doublet of Jonas.

## What it means

Jonah is grouped under bird.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 23 | 5,827 |
| 2012 | 17 | 7,281 |
| 2013 | 18 | 6,865 |
| 2014 | 26 | 5,220 |
| 2015 | 24 | 5,561 |
| 2016 | 26 | 5,207 |
| 2017 | 23 | 5,583 |
| 2018 | 36 | 4,031 |
| 2019 | 21 | 5,880 |
| 2020 | 22 | 5,555 |
| 2021 | 28 | 4,771 |
| 2022 | 18 | 6,564 |
| 2023 | 33 | 4,318 |
| 2024 | 25 | 5,216 |
| 2025 | 39 | 3,803 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2,867 | 144 |
| 2012 | 2,955 | 128 |
| 2013 | 2,903 | 132 |
| 2014 | 2,920 | 138 |
| 2015 | 2,913 | 143 |
| 2016 | 2,778 | 150 |
| 2017 | 2,524 | 154 |
| 2018 | 2,725 | 145 |
| 2019 | 2,693 | 139 |
| 2020 | 2,821 | 128 |
| 2021 | 2,739 | 138 |
| 2022 | 2,754 | 135 |
| 2023 | 2,900 | 124 |
| 2024 | 2,893 | 126 |
| 2025 | 2,828 | 128 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 342 | 168 |
| 2012 | 324 | 180 |
| 2013 | 329 | 171 |
| 2014 | 373 | 149 |
| 2015 | 368 | 158 |
| 2016 | 378 | 157 |
| 2017 | 358 | 159 |
| 2018 | 387 | 144 |
| 2019 | 391 | 144 |
| 2020 | 375 | 147 |
| 2021 | 419 | 136 |
| 2022 | 428 | 133 |
| 2023 | 406 | 134 |
| 2024 | 365 | 145 |
| 2025 | 363 | 147 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Հովնան
- Czech: Jonáš
- Danish: Jonas
- Dutch: Jonas, Jona
- Estonian: Joonas, Joona
- Finnish: Joona, Joonas
- French: Jonas
- Georgian: იონა
- German: Jonas
- Greek: Ιωνάς
- Hebrew: יוֹנָה, ג׳ונה
- Hindi: जोना, यूनुस
- Hungarian: Jónás
- Icelandic: Jónas
- Italian: Giona
- Japanese: ヨナ, ヨナ書
- Latin: Ionas, Iōnās
- Latvian: Jonas
- Lithuanian: Jona, Jonos knyga
- Norwegian: Jonas

## People named Jonah

- Jonah Hill, American actor (born 1983)
- Jonah Hauer-King, British actor
- Jonah Bobo, American actor
- Jonah Falcon, American actor and writer
- Jonah Goldberg, American political writer and pundit
- Jonah Bolden, Australian basketball player (born 1996)
- Jonah Lehrer, American science writer
- Jonah, American archbishop
- Jonah Blechman, American actor
- Jonah Mathews, American basketball player (born 1998)
- Jonah Peretti, American businessman (born 1974)
- Jonah Williams, American football offensive tackle

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.