FastNamesJack
English, Hebrew and French name meaning "Medieval diminutive of John (via Jankin/Jackin from Hebrew Yochanan, 'Yahweh is gracious'), heavily influenced by Old French Jacques (from Latin Jacobus, 'supplanter').". Ranked 15th for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Jack
Medieval diminutive of John (via Jankin/Jackin from Hebrew Yochanan, 'Yahweh is gracious'), heavily influenced by Old French Jacques (from Latin Jacobus, 'supplanter').
Linguistically, Jack is classified under English, Hebrew and French naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "JAK".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Jack has been given to a total of 756,943 boys. It has also been given to 2,734 girls.
Peak year: Jack reached its highest relative share among boys in 1927, when 12,802 babies received the name (11,360 per million births).
All-time best rank: 11th place, first achieved in 2021.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 15th with 8,748 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 40th (up 25 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Jack in the 1920s than in any other decade (115,983 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,684 |
| 1890s | 4,635 |
| 1900s | 9,222 |
| 1910s | 49,526 |
| 1920s | 115,983 |
| 1930s | 96,396 |
| 1940s | 73,919 |
| 1950s | 62,387 |
| 1960s | 35,593 |
| 1970s | 18,562 |
| 1980s | 15,944 |
| 1990s | 37,501 |
| 2000s | 95,512 |
| 2010s | 85,695 |
| 2020s | 53,384 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Jack is most common in the US
Accounting for when Jack was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Wyoming: 2.0 times the national rate (2,046 births since 1910).
- Alaska: 1.7 times the national rate (1,415 births since 1910).
- Montana: 1.6 times the national rate (4,068 births since 1910).
- Oklahoma: 1.5 times the national rate (17,708 births since 1910).
- Idaho: 1.5 times the national rate (4,688 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Jack?
About 421,000 living American boys and men share the name Jack. Additionally, an estimated 1,100 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Jack is 24 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Jack
Jack developed in medieval England during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as a pet form of John, progressing through Jankin and Jackin before becoming a distinct moniker. Its phonetic evolution was simultaneously reinforced by the Norman-French name Jacques (cognate with James and Jacob), leading to widespread popular adoption across the British Isles as a colloquial term for the common man or tradesman.
In folklore, literature, and nursery rhymes, Jack became the quintessential archetypal English hero—featuring in Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Jack Horner, and Jack the Giant Killer. By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Jack stood firmly as an independent baptismal name, carrying connotations of brisk capability, independence, and spirited charm.
In United States records, Jack enjoyed immense early twentieth-century popularity, famously epitomized by President John F. 'Jack' Kennedy. While long registered under the formal name John, Jack experienced a major revival as a standalone legal birth name starting in the 1990s, re-entering the national top fifty in 2000 and climbing into the top thirty with over 8,000 newborn boys per year.
Notable people named Jack
- Jack Nicholson (1937–), American actor and three-time Academy Award winner
- Jack London (1876–1916), American novelist, author of The Call of the Wild
- Jack Black (1969–), American actor, comedian, and musician
- Jack Nicklaus (1940–), American retired professional golfer and 18-time major champion
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 137.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 170.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.