The surname Jordan
A Greek patronymic surname, carried by 208,403 people in the United States.
Pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɔɹdən/ 2 syllables Soundex J635 Also a first name
Origin
Greek origin
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.
Jordan is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
One of 45 Greek surnames on this site.
Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How common it is
2010 US Census
There were 208,403 people named Jordan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,481 Americans. That is up 5.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 197,212.
Who is named Jordan
Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census
61% of people named Jordan identified as white (not Hispanic), 31% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
- White (not Hispanic) 61%
- Black (not Hispanic) 31%
- Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.1%
- Two or more races 2.5%
- American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
Famous Jordans
66 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Michael JordanAmerican basketball player and businessman (born 1963)
- Michael B. JordanAmerican actor (born 1987)
- Robert JordanAmerican fantasy writer (1948–2007)
- David Starr JordanAmerican ichthyologist and educator (1851-1931)
- Barbara JordanAmerican politician (1936-1996)
- DeAndre JordanAmerican basketball player (born 1988)
- Leslie JordanAmerican actor (1955–2022)
- Louis JordanAmerican jazz, blues and rhythm and blues musician, songwriter and bandleader (1908–1975)
- Jeremy JordanAmerican actor and singer (born 1984)
- Alexis JordanAmerican singer, songwriter and actress, born 1992
- Dorothea JordanAnglo-Irish actress and courtesan (1761–1816)
- Sheila JordanAmerican jazz singer (1928–2025)
Notable Jordans come mostly from the United States (56), the United Kingdom (4) and the Kingdom of Great Britain (1).
Spellings and sound-alikes
Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling
Jordan has the Soundex code J635, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J635.
Other Greek surnames
Questions
- Where does the surname Jordan come from?
- 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.
- How common is the surname Jordan?
- 208,403 people in the United States had the surname Jordan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,481 Americans. It ranked 116th of 162,253 surnames.
- What ethnicity is the surname Jordan?
- In the 2010 Census, 61% of people named Jordan identified as white (not Hispanic), and 31% as Black (not Hispanic).
- Who is the most famous person named Jordan?
- Michael Jordan, American basketball player and businessman (born 1963), followed by Michael B. Jordan.
- Where is the surname Jordan most common?
- Wikidata records people named Jordan in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Great Britain and 3 other countries.
- How do you pronounce Jordan?
- Jordan is /ˈd͡ʒɔɹdən/, 2 syllables.
- What type of surname is Jordan?
- Jordan is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
- Is the surname Jordan getting more or less common?
- More common. 197,212 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 208,403 in 2010, up 5.7%.
- Is Jordan also a first name?
- Yes. Jordan is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.