Jonathen
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh has given".
Name Census estimates that about 1,457 living Americans carry the first name Jonathen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jonathen today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonathen births was 2000 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonathen. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 235,247 Americans
Peak year
2000
59 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,154
Tracked since 1954
Census
Jonathen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,294 people with the first name Jonathen, which placed it at #10,355 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
#10,355
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,294 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonathen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonathen is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.5%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Jonathen 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 Jonathen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.9% · 723
- Hispanic or Latino26.5% · 343
- Black or African American7.8% · 101
- Two or more races5.5% · 71
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 15
Popularity
Jonathen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonathen from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 486 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
Jonathen 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 Jonathen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jonathens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Jonathen, while Washington, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jonathen
The name Jonathen is derived from the Hebrew name Yonatan, which means "gift of God" or "God has given." It is a biblical name that first appeared in the Old Testament as the name of the son of King Saul and a close friend of David.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jonathen can be traced back to the 11th century BC in ancient Israel. It was a popular name among the Israelites and later spread to other parts of the Middle East and Europe with the spread of Christianity.
In the Old Testament, Jonathen is portrayed as a brave and loyal warrior who defended his father Saul's kingdom against the Philistines. He is also remembered for his deep friendship with David, which has become a symbol of loyalty and brotherhood in many cultures.
One of the most famous historical figures named Jonathen was Jonathen Edwards, an American theologian, philosopher, and revivalist preacher who played a significant role in the Great Awakening of the 18th century. He was born in 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut, and died in 1758.
Another notable Jonathen was Jonathen Swift, an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, and poet best known for his works like "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal." He was born in 1667 in Dublin, Ireland, and died in 1745.
In the realm of politics, Jonathen Trumbull was an American politician who served as the second Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1791 to 1793. He was born in 1740 in Lebanon, Connecticut, and died in 1809.
Jonathen Ive, a British industrial designer, is widely recognized for his contributions to the design of many iconic Apple products, including the iMac, iPod, and iPhone. He was born in 1967 in Chingford, London, and served as the Chief Design Officer at Apple Inc. until his departure in 2019.
Jonathen Franzen is an American novelist and essayist, best known for his critically acclaimed novels "The Corrections" and "Freedom." He was born in 1959 in Western Springs, Illinois, and continues to write and publish his works.
Throughout history, the name Jonathen has been associated with qualities such as courage, loyalty, and wisdom, reflecting the biblical figure's virtues and the lasting impact of his story on various cultures and belief systems.
People
Jonathen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonathen 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
Jonathen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonathen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,457 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonathen 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 235,247 US residents.
Is Jonathen a common name?
We classify Jonathen as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,507 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonathen most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonathen was 2000, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonathen is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jonathen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,294 people with the name Jonathen, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,355 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 Jonathen 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 Jonathen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonathen appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,290 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Jonathen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonathen is White at 55.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.5%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Jonathen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jonathen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.9% (723 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 Jonathen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonathen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonathen 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 Jonathen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonathen 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 Jonathen 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 have Jonathen as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Jonathen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.