Johna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from John.
Name Census estimates that about 2,065 living Americans carry the first name Johna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Johna today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johna births was 1963 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 165,983 Americans
Peak year
1963
98 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1995 SSA rank
#8,288
Tracked since 1925
Census
Johna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,357 people with the first name Johna, which placed it at #6,715 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,715
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,357 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johna is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Johna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Johna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.5% · 1,780
- Black or African American9.5% · 224
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 143
- Two or more races5.6% · 131
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Johna
Out of the 2,462 babies given the name Johna since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Johna as a male name
- Ranked #8,288 in 1995
- 6 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1995 (6 births)
Johna as a female name
- Ranked #16,305 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1963 (98 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johna leans strongly female. 2,163 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 198 male bearers (8.4%).
Popularity
Johna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johna from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 633 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Johna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Johna, while Washington, Tennessee, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johna
The name Johna is believed to have originated from the Hebrew name Johanan, which means "Graced by God" or "God is gracious." This name has been in use since ancient times and can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible, where it appears as the name of several individuals, including a high priest during the reign of King David.
In the Middle Ages, the name Johanan evolved into various spellings and versions across different languages and cultures. One of these variations was Johna, which was commonly used in certain regions of Europe and the Middle East. The earliest recorded instances of the name Johna can be found in medieval documents and records from the 11th to 13th centuries.
One of the notable historical figures bearing the name Johna was Johna of Saxony (1240-1285), a German noblewoman and countess of Anhalt. She played a significant role in the political and religious affairs of her time and was known for her patronage of the arts and education.
Another prominent individual with this name was Johna al-Dimashqi (1256-1327), an Arab scholar and traveler from Damascus. He wrote extensively about his travels and observations, providing valuable insights into the cultures and societies of the medieval Islamic world.
In the 15th century, Johna Hus (1369-1415), a Czech priest and philosopher, became a key figure in the Bohemian Reformation movement. His teachings and criticisms of the Catholic Church led to his eventual execution, which sparked widespread unrest and religious upheaval across Europe.
During the Renaissance period, Johna Basili (1490-1542), an Italian painter and architect, gained recognition for his contributions to the art and architecture of the time. He worked on various projects, including the design of churches and palaces in Rome and other Italian cities.
In the 17th century, Johna van Scorel (1589-1662), a Dutch Golden Age painter, achieved fame for his portraits and religious works. His paintings are renowned for their vibrant colors and realistic depictions of subjects, and can be found in numerous museums and collections around the world.
While the name Johna has waned in popularity over the centuries, it continues to hold historical significance and serves as a testament to the rich cultural diversity and traditions that have shaped our understanding of names and their meanings.
People
Johna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Johna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,065 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 165,983 US residents.
Is Johna a common name?
We classify Johna as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johna most popular?
The single biggest year for Johna was 1963, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johna is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Johna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,357 people with the name Johna, or 0.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,715 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Johna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Johna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johna leans strongly female. 2,163 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 198 male bearers (8.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Johna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johna is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Hispanic (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Johna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Johna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.5% (1,780 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Johna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Johna a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Johna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Johna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Johna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Johna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Johna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.