Head to head · Boys' names
Jeremiah vs Jonathan
#88 vs #89 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Jeremiah is a whisker ahead (#88 vs #89 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Jeremiah and Jonathan each lead 2 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Jeremiah #275, Jonathan #422 — Jeremiah higher
- 1890s: Jeremiah #324, Jonathan #589 — Jeremiah higher
- 1900s: Jeremiah #425, Jonathan #670 — Jeremiah higher
- 1910s: Jeremiah #542, Jonathan #628 — Jeremiah higher
- 1920s: Jeremiah #555, Jonathan #608 — Jeremiah higher
- 1930s: Jeremiah #544, Jonathan #461 — Jonathan higher
- 1940s: Jeremiah #563, Jonathan #222 — Jonathan higher
- 1950s: Jeremiah #577, Jonathan #131 — Jonathan higher
- 1960s: Jeremiah #670, Jonathan #79 — Jonathan higher
- 1970s: Jeremiah #234, Jonathan #33 — Jonathan higher
- 1980s: Jeremiah #108, Jonathan #17 — Jonathan higher
- 1990s: Jeremiah #147, Jonathan #21 — Jonathan higher
- 2000s: Jeremiah #79, Jonathan #23 — Jonathan higher
- 2010s: Jeremiah #57, Jonathan #46 — Jonathan higher
- 2020s: Jeremiah #87, Jonathan #80 — Jonathan higher
Jonathan stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Jonathan has held the lead since the 1930s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jeremiah | Jonathan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #275 | #422 |
| 1890s | #324 | #589 |
| 1900s | #425 | #670 |
| 1910s | #542 | #628 |
| 1920s | #555 | #608 |
| 1930s | #544 | #461 |
| 1940s | #563 | #222 |
| 1950s | #577 | #131 |
| 1960s | #670 | #79 |
| 1970s | #234 | #33 |
| 1980s | #108 | #17 |
| 1990s | #147 | #21 |
| 2000s | #79 | #23 |
| 2010s | #57 | #46 |
| 2020s | #87 | #80 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Jeremiah
From Hebrew Yirmeyahu, most often read as "Yahweh will exalt"
The second half of the name is clearly the divine name Yah. The first element is the argument: most scholars take it from a root meaning to raise or exalt, giving "Yahweh will exalt" or "Yahweh lifts up"; others read it as "Yahweh throws" or "Yahweh establishes/appoints". All three readings keep God as the subject.
Yirmeyahu → Ieremias → Jeremias → Jeremy → Jeremiah
How it traveled
The name belongs first to the Hebrew prophet whose book sits among the longest in the Old Testament, written in the years around the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon. Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures rendered Yirmeyahu as Ieremias, Latin took it as Jeremias, and medieval England wore that down to Jeremy.
Jonathan
the Lord has given
Yehonatan joins a short form of the divine name with a verb meaning to give: the Lord has given. Nathan is the same verb standing alone, and Nathaniel says the same thing with the elements reversed — God has given. The meaning is not disputed anywhere. What is worth stressing is what it is not: it shares no root with John, which is built on a different verb entirely, and the resemblance in English is an accident of how both names were worn down.
Yehonatan → Ionathan → Jonathan
How it traveled
The Jonathan of the books of Samuel is the son of King Saul, and his friendship with David is described in terms the text reserves for very few relationships; the covenant between them, and David's lament when Jonathan dies in battle, are among the best-known passages in the Hebrew Bible. The name traveled into English with the Reformation, when families began taking names from the Hebrew scriptures rather than from the saints' calendar, and it went to America with the Puritans.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Jeremiah
jer-uh-MY-uh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. The opening J is the English soft J, not the Hebrew Y — Yirmeyahu keeps that. Spanish and Portuguese speakers will stress it differently and say Jeremías, ending in an s.
- Jerry — The long-standing English short form; also stands alone as a given name and arrives there from Gerald and Jerome, and is most strongly represented among older generations.
- Jer — Informal, spoken more than written, common among friends and teammates.
- Miah — Taken from the end of the name rather than the start; informal, and used as a name in its own right for girls.
- Jem — Older English short form, shared historically with James; rare in the US today.
- Also Remy.
Jonathan
JON-uh-thun
JON-uh-thun, three syllables, stress at the front, the middle vowel reduced. The th is soft, as in the word the, rather than sharp. Hebrew moves the weight to the last syllable and keeps every vowel: yeh-ho-na-TAN.
- Jon — The front syllable, and the short form most Jonathans use daily; spelled without an h, which distinguishes it from John.
- Nate — Taken from the middle rather than the front, and a complete name of its own; it detaches the person from the John confusion entirely.
- Yoni — The Hebrew short form, standard in Israel and used in Jewish families elsewhere.
- Than — The back syllable alone, rare in English and more common where the name has been shortened from the other end.
Who has carried each name
Jeremiah
No documented entry for Jeremiah yet.
Jonathan
Jonathan Swift (b. 1667) — Wrote Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Banks (b. 1947) — Breaking Bad's Mike
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jeremiah if you want…
- a name with more sound in itJeremiah runs 4 syllables, Jonathan 3
- a name that feels very nowJeremiah is stepping back from its peak
Choose Jonathan if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesJonathan is 3 syllables to Jeremiah's 4
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 75% for Jeremiah
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Jeremiah
Strengths
- A spelling most English speakers already know from scripture, so it rarely needs to be spelled out letter by letter.
- A documented line running from Hebrew through Greek and Latin into English, with no gaps to guess at.
- Established short forms at both ends of the name — Jerry, Jer, Miah — so a child has room to choose.
To consider
- It shares a doorway with Jeremy, and the two get swapped in speech and on paperwork for life. Jerry can point back to either one.
- English has the word "jeremiad", meaning a long, gloomy complaint, coined from the prophet's book. Few people connect the two, but the dictionary does.
- Four syllables is a lot on a form or a name tag, and most bearers end up using something shorter day to day.
Jonathan
Strengths
- Two of the strongest short forms in English are inside it, and Jon and Nate go in completely different directions.
- It has been in continuous use in English for four hundred years without ever becoming a period marker.
- Every language that received the Hebrew scriptures has a version of it, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- Jonathon is a common alternative spelling and Jonathan will be written both ways for life; the o in the last syllable is the one to watch.
- It is constantly assumed to be a formal version of John, and correcting that is a small speech most Jonathans give up on.
- Jon and John are said identically, so the short form solves nothing about the confusion.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jeremiah
75%chance Jeremiah feels dated by 2040
Jeremiah is coming down from a big peak (#49 in 2011). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Jonathan
12%chance Jonathan feels dated by 2040
Jonathan has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Jeremiah and Jonathan in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Jeremiah and Jonathan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jeremiah or Jonathan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jeremiah or Jonathan?
- Jeremiah, in 2025: Jeremiah ranked #88 with 3,840 babies; Jonathan ranked #89 with 3,822 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jeremiah or Jonathan?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jeremiah moved down 14 places; Jonathan moved down 19 places.
- Which is the older name, Jeremiah or Jonathan?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Jeremiah and Jonathan?
- About 215,000 people named Jeremiah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 818,000 people named Jonathan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jeremiahs or Jonathans in the classroom?
- Jeremiah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jonathan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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