# Jordan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/jordan/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname transferred from the given name derived from the male given name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Greek |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 208,403 |
| US rank (2010) | 116 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 1,481 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.7% (197,212 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒɔɹdən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Latin Iordanēs, from Ancient Greek Ἰορδάνης (Iordánēs), from Biblical Hebrew יַרְדֵּן (yardén, “Jordan (river)”). Doublet of Yarden. The area in Hong Kong is named after Jordan station, which is named after Jordan Road, which in turn is named after Sir John Jordan.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Jordan in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 61% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 31% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Jordan in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Great Britain, Australia, Bolivia and Austria.

## People named Jordan

- Michael Jordan, American basketball player and businessman (born 1963)
- Michael B. Jordan, American actor (born 1987)
- Robert Jordan, American fantasy writer (1948–2007)
- David Starr Jordan, American ichthyologist and educator (1851-1931)
- Barbara Jordan, American politician (1936-1996)
- DeAndre Jordan, American basketball player (born 1988)
- Leslie Jordan, American actor (1955–2022)
- Louis Jordan, American jazz, blues and rhythm and blues musician, songwriter and bandleader (1908–1975)
- Jeremy Jordan, American actor and singer (born 1984)
- Alexis Jordan, American singer, songwriter and actress
- Dorothea Jordan, Anglo-Irish actress and courtesan (1761–1816)
- Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer (1928–2025)

and 54 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Jordon, Jourdan, Jorden, Jardine.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.