Johnpaul
A combination of the masculine names John and Paul, possibly representing grace and humility.
Name Census estimates that about 5,798 living Americans carry the first name Johnpaul. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Johnpaul today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johnpaul births was 2005 (273 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johnpaul. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Johnpaul with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.8K
~ 1 in 59,116 Americans
Peak year
2005
273 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,862
Tracked since 1960
Census
Johnpaul in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,818 people with the first name Johnpaul, which placed it at #2,912 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
#2,912
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,818 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johnpaul
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnpaul is White at 52.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.2%). 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 Johnpaul 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 Johnpaul at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.3% · 4,092
- Hispanic or Latino21.6% · 1,685
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.2% · 1,347
- Two or more races4.2% · 331
- Black or African American4.2% · 329
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 34
Popularity
Johnpaul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johnpaul from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,505 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Johnpaul remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johnpaul 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 Johnpaul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johnpauls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Johnpaul, while Oklahoma, Kentucky, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 138 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johnpaul
Johnpaul is a unique given name that combines the names John and Paul, both of which have rich historical origins and significance. This name is believed to have originated in the English-speaking world, likely during the early modern period.
The name John has its roots in the Hebrew name Yohanan, which means "Yahweh is gracious." This name gained widespread popularity in Europe after the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ's apostle John. The name Paul, on the other hand, derives from the Latin name Paulus, meaning "small" or "humble." This name was famously borne by the apostle Paul, who played a crucial role in spreading Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
While no specific historical texts or religious scriptures directly mention the name Johnpaul, it is possible that it emerged as a combination of the two popular names John and Paul, both of which held significant religious and cultural importance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johnpaul can be traced back to Johnpaul Jones (1747-1792), a Scottish-born American naval captain who played a pivotal role in the American Revolutionary War. He is often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy."
Another notable figure with the name Johnpaul was Johnpaul Getty II (1932-2003), an American book editor and philanthropist, who was the grandson of the famous oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.
Johnpaul Sanford (1920-2008), an American Episcopal priest, author, and psychologist, made significant contributions to the field of psychology and the study of dreams.
Johnpaul Dotson (born 1990) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for several teams, including the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets.
Johnpaul Marcotte (born 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Cleveland Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL).
The name Johnpaul, while not as common as its individual components, has been borne by notable individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields, including military, literature, psychology, sports, and more.
People
Johnpaul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johnpaul 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
Johnpaul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johnpaul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,798 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johnpaul 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 59,116 US residents.
Is Johnpaul a common name?
We classify Johnpaul as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,956 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johnpaul most popular?
The single biggest year for Johnpaul was 2005, when 273 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johnpaul is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Johnpaul in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,818 people with the name Johnpaul, or 2.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,912 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 Johnpaul 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 Johnpaul?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johnpaul appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,819 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Johnpaul?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnpaul is White at 52.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.2%). 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 Johnpaul most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Johnpaul in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.3% (4,092 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 Johnpaul in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Johnpaul a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Johnpaul in the SSA data are male. 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 Johnpaul still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Johnpaul 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 Johnpaul 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 many people are called Johnpaul?
Want to know how many people have the name Johnpaul? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.