Johnson
From English roots meaning "son of John".
Name Census estimates that about 4,596 living Americans carry the first name Johnson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Johnson today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johnson births was 2000 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johnson. 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 Johnson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 74,577 Americans
Peak year
2000
111 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,547
Tracked since 1880
Census
Johnson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,854 people with the first name Johnson, which placed it at #2,905 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
#2,905
National first-name rank
People counted
7.9K
7,854 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
39.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johnson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnson is Asian/Pacific Islander at 39.6%. The next largest groups are Black (30.6%) and White (19.8%). 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 Johnson 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 Johnson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander39.6% · 3,109
- Black or African American30.6% · 2,404
- White19.8% · 1,559
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 401
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 256
- Two or more races1.6% · 125
Gender
Gender distribution for Johnson
Out of the 7,009 babies given the name Johnson since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Johnson as a male name
- Ranked #3,547 in 2024
- 32 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (111 births)
Johnson as a female name
- Ranked #12,099 in 1987
- 5 female births in 1987
- Peak: 1917 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johnson leans strongly male. 7,282 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 569 female bearers (7.2%).
Popularity
Johnson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johnson from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 884 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johnson 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 Johnson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johnsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Johnson, while Utah, New Jersey, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 117 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johnson
The name Johnson is an English name derived from the personal name John, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "Yahweh is gracious." The suffix "-son" is an English patronymic, indicating that the bearer is the son of someone named John.
In the Middle Ages, the name Johnson emerged as a common surname in England, often given to the son of a man named John. It was particularly prevalent in areas with a strong tradition of using patronymic surnames, such as the northern counties of England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johnson can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Jonesson," reflecting the Old English spelling.
The name Johnson has a long history in English literature and culture. In the 16th century, the playwright Ben Jonson (1572-1637) was a prominent figure in the English Renaissance. His works, such as "Volpone" and "The Alchemist," are considered classics of English drama.
In the 18th century, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a renowned English writer, critic, and lexicographer. His "Dictionary of the English Language," published in 1755, was a landmark achievement and a significant contribution to the standardization of the English language.
Other notable individuals with the name Johnson include Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), the 17th President of the United States; Jack Johnson (1878-1946), the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion; and Virginia Johnson (1925-2013), a pioneering American sexologist and researcher.
Throughout history, the name Johnson has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including artists, scientists, politicians, and athletes. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its strong English roots and its association with notable historical figures.
People
Johnson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johnson 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
Johnson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johnson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,596 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johnson 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 74,577 US residents.
Is Johnson a common name?
We classify Johnson as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,009 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johnson most popular?
The single biggest year for Johnson was 2000, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johnson is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Johnson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,854 people with the name Johnson, or 2.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,905 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 Johnson 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 Johnson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johnson leans strongly male. 7,282 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 569 female bearers (7.2%). 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 Johnson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnson is Asian/Pacific Islander at 39.6%. The next largest groups are Black (30.6%) and White (19.8%). 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 Johnson most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Johnson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.6% (3,109 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 Johnson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Johnson a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Johnson 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 Johnson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Johnson 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 Johnson 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 Johnson?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Johnson on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.