John Waters
There are approximately 640 people named John Waters living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 535,554 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name John with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Waters. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
640
1 in 535,554
Named John
2.9M
Alive today
Named Waters
75K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 2.9M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Top Census group: White (82.9%)
Estimated bearers: 75K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #504
Per 100K: 21.76
Top ancestry: White (71.2%)
First name trend
John: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name John. The peak year was 1947 with 88,524 births. The average person named John today is 57 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for John
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name John, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 82.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name John described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name John at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White82.9% · 2,589,589
- Black or African American6.3% · 195,759
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 187,148
- Two or more races2.2% · 69,447
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 67,811
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 15,360
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Waters surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Waters, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 71.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Waters described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Waters at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White71.2% · 46,332
- Black or African American19.5% · 12,676
- Two or more races4.3% · 2,823
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 2,234
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 531
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 440
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name John has a living-bearer frequency of 0.8581% of the US population, based on 2,941,241 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name John right now.
The surname Waters appears at a rate of 21.76 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0218%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 640 people with the full name John Waters. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named John
Related
Other people with the surname Waters
FAQ
John Waters: questions and answers
How many people are named John Waters?
We estimate approximately 640 people in the United States share the full name John Waters. That works out to about 1 in 535,554 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.8581%) with the surname frequency (21.76 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name John Waters?
We classify John Waters as "Very Rare". About 1 in 535,554 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is John a male or female name?
John is predominantly male. Out of 5,196,210 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full John profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called John Waters?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.