Head to head · Boys' names
Jeremiah vs Jose
#88 vs #95 in 2025
Jeremiah is a whisker ahead (#88 vs #95 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jeremiah is stepping back from its peak, Jose is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Jose has the edge.
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 Jose 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, Jose #150 — Jose higher
- 1890s: Jeremiah #324, Jose #161 — Jose higher
- 1900s: Jeremiah #425, Jose #133 — Jose higher
- 1910s: Jeremiah #542, Jose #156 — Jose higher
- 1920s: Jeremiah #555, Jose #123 — Jose higher
- 1930s: Jeremiah #544, Jose #135 — Jose higher
- 1940s: Jeremiah #563, Jose #138 — Jose higher
- 1950s: Jeremiah #577, Jose #111 — Jose higher
- 1960s: Jeremiah #670, Jose #86 — Jose higher
- 1970s: Jeremiah #234, Jose #48 — Jose higher
- 1980s: Jeremiah #108, Jose #48 — Jose higher
- 1990s: Jeremiah #147, Jose #35 — Jose higher
- 2000s: Jeremiah #79, Jose #33 — Jose higher
- 2010s: Jeremiah #57, Jose #76 — Jeremiah higher
- 2020s: Jeremiah #87, Jose #92 — Jeremiah higher
Jose stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Jeremiah has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jeremiah | Jose |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #275 | #150 |
| 1890s | #324 | #161 |
| 1900s | #425 | #133 |
| 1910s | #542 | #156 |
| 1920s | #555 | #123 |
| 1930s | #544 | #135 |
| 1940s | #563 | #138 |
| 1950s | #577 | #111 |
| 1960s | #670 | #86 |
| 1970s | #234 | #48 |
| 1980s | #108 | #48 |
| 1990s | #147 | #35 |
| 2000s | #79 | #33 |
| 2010s | #57 | #76 |
| 2020s | #87 | #92 |
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.
Jose
he will add
From the Hebrew Yosef, through Greek Ioseph and Latin Iosephus into Spanish. The reading has not been seriously disputed.
Yosef → Ioseph → Iosephus → Josep → Jose
How it traveled
Latin Iosephus gave Old Spanish Josep, and Spanish then dropped the final consonant and settled on Jose. The letter j did the interesting part.
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.
Jose
ho-SEH
Two syllables with the weight at the back and a throaty h at the front. Portuguese says it closer to zhoo-ZEH. American English generally settles on hoh-ZAY, which no Spanish speaker would use but which every Jose in the country answers to.
- Pepe — The standard Spanish short form, used by family and friends and never on documents.
- Chepe — Used in Mexico and parts of Central America where Pepe is less common.
- Joe — The English short form, used by men who work in English and are Jose at home.
- Che — An older familiar form, still heard in some regions.
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 past its most crowded yearsJeremiah is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJeremiah runs 4 syllables, Jose 2
- a name that feels very nowJeremiah is stepping back from its peak
Choose Jose if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesJose is 2 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.
Jose
Strengths
- It is understood on sight across the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world and needs no translation in either.
- It carries a settled Spanish short form, Pepe, and an English one, Joe, so the same person can be addressed naturally in both languages.
- Four letters, two syllables, no silent letters in any language that uses it.
To consider
- Written without its accent, as American forms usually leave it, the stress drifts to the front and readers who do not know the name mispronounce it.
- It is recorded for a small number of girls, usually inside a compound such as Maria Jose, so the spelling alone does not settle who is meant.
- In many Spanish-speaking families the name is expected as a compound, Jose Luis or Jose Maria, and standing alone it can read as incomplete.
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.
Jose
12%chance Jose feels dated by 2040
Jose 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 Jose in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Jeremiah and Jose?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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 Jose — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jeremiah or Jose — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jeremiah or Jose?
- Jeremiah, in 2025: Jeremiah ranked #88 with 3,840 babies; Jose ranked #95 with 3,678 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jeremiah or Jose?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jeremiah moved down 14 places; Jose moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Jeremiah or Jose?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Jeremiah and Jose?
- About 215,000 people named Jeremiah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 518,000 people named Jose are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jeremiahs or Joses in the classroom?
- Jeremiah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jose 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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