Head to head · Boys' names
Jonah vs Jordan
#128 vs #131 in 2025
Jonah is a whisker ahead (#128 vs #131 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jonah is holding its place on the charts, Jordan is stepping back from its peak.
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: Jonah and Jordan 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: Jonah #708, Jordan #491 — Jordan higher
- 1890s: Jonah #841, Jordan #618 — Jordan higher
- 1900s: Jonah #1036, Jordan #741 — Jordan higher
- 1910s: Jonah #1238, Jordan #872 — Jordan higher
- 1920s: Jonah #1285, Jordan #707 — Jordan higher
- 1930s: Jonah #1397, Jordan #691 — Jordan higher
- 1940s: Jonah #1427, Jordan #784 — Jordan higher
- 1950s: Jonah #1428, Jordan #699 — Jordan higher
- 1960s: Jonah #1451, Jordan #574 — Jordan higher
- 1970s: Jonah #653, Jordan #372 — Jordan higher
- 1980s: Jonah #523, Jordan #75 — Jordan higher
- 1990s: Jonah #373, Jordan #29 — Jordan higher
- 2000s: Jonah #169, Jordan #42 — Jordan higher
- 2010s: Jonah #142, Jordan #61 — Jordan higher
- 2020s: Jonah #130, Jordan #99 — Jordan higher
Jordan stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jonah | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #708 | #491 |
| 1890s | #841 | #618 |
| 1900s | #1036 | #741 |
| 1910s | #1238 | #872 |
| 1920s | #1285 | #707 |
| 1930s | #1397 | #691 |
| 1940s | #1427 | #784 |
| 1950s | #1428 | #699 |
| 1960s | #1451 | #574 |
| 1970s | #653 | #372 |
| 1980s | #523 | #75 |
| 1990s | #373 | #29 |
| 2000s | #169 | #42 |
| 2010s | #142 | #61 |
| 2020s | #130 | #99 |
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
Jonah
Dove
Hebrew yonah, the bird. The same word appears in the Genesis flood story, of the dove sent out from the ark.
Yonah → Ionas → Jonas → Jonah
How it traveled
The name belongs first to the Book of Jonah, a Hebrew text of the prophet swallowed by a great fish and delivered to Nineveh. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered Yonah as Ionas, Latin took it as Jonas, and that s-form is still the standard one across much of Europe.
Jordan
descending, flowing down — from the river Jordan
The Hebrew name Yarden comes from the root yarad, 'to go down' or 'descend', describing the river's fall from the northern highlands to the Dead Sea.
Yarden → Iordanes → Jordanus → Jourdain → Jordan
How it traveled
The name begins as a place: the Jordan, the river of the Hebrew Bible, whose name the Greek translators wrote as Iordanes and Latin writers as Iordanis. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries onward, Europeans returning from the Holy Land brought Jordan water back for baptisms, and children baptized with it were given the river's name — Jordanus in Latin records, Jourdain in Old French, where it also became the hero's name in a medieval French verse epic.
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
Jonah
JOH-nuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. The final h is silent — it marks the Hebrew spelling rather than a sound. Distinct from Jonas, which keeps the s aloud.
- Jo — The usual informal clip, at home and among friends; spelled Joe by some families.
- Joey — Informal, mostly childhood; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Jonesy — Teammate and schoolyard style, formed the way surnames are; rarely used by adults about themselves.
Jordan
JOR-dan
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is unstressed and often reduced to 'dn' in fast American speech. It reads correctly on sight for almost any English speaker.
- Jordy — The most widespread short form, informal, used for both boys and girls.
- Jord — Clipped and casual, mostly among friends and siblings.
- Jordie — Same sound as Jordy with a softer spelling; used informally.
- J — Single-initial nickname, common in American school and sports settings.
Who has carried each name
Jonah
Jonah Hill (b. 1983) — Superbad comic turned two-time Oscar nominee
Jonah Lomu (b. 1975) — Rugby's first global superstar
Jordan
Jordan Peele (b. 1979) — Get Out's Oscar-winning horror auteur
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 Jonah if you want…
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 80% for Jordan
Choose Jordan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJordan is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowJordan is stepping back from its peak
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
Jonah
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and already familiar to anyone who has met the biblical story — very little correcting to do.
- Recognizable across languages: Jonas in German and French, Jonás in Spanish, Yunus in Arabic, Yonah in Hebrew.
- An unbroken written record going back to the Hebrew Bible, and continuous English use since the Reformation.
To consider
- Sailors have used "a Jonah" for centuries to mean someone who brings bad luck aboard, straight from the storm in the story. It surfaces rarely in ordinary life, but it is out there, and worth knowing before someone else mentions it.
- Jonas is the standard form in much of Europe and in plenty of American families, so expect a certain number of forms and emails to come back with an s on the end.
- The fish gets brought up. Most children hear the story at some point, and jokes about being swallowed are the predictable ones — usually short-lived, and easier if the child already knows the tale.
Jordan
Strengths
- One spelling that English speakers read and write correctly on first sight, with no pronunciation coaching required.
- Works in French, Italian, Spanish, German and Hebrew with only small adjustments — a rare thing in a name this short.
- Documented in European records since the era of the crusades, so it has outlasted many complete turns of fashion.
To consider
- It reads as unisex in the United States, with most Jordans being boys and a real minority girls. On paper — a class list, an application — the name alone will not tell anyone which, which some families like and others do not.
- Jordan is also a very common surname and a country, so pairing it with another surname-style last name can produce a full name that sounds like two last names.
- Variant spellings such as Jordyn and Jordon are in circulation, so expect occasional 'how do you spell it' even though your spelling is the standard one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jonah
40%chance Jonah feels dated by 2040
Jonah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Jordan
80%chance Jordan feels dated by 2040
Jordan is coming down from a big peak (#26 in 1997). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Jonah and Jordan 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 Jonah and Jordan?
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 than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
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 Jonah and Jordan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jonah or Jordan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jonah or Jordan?
- Jonah, in 2025: Jonah ranked #128 with 2,828 babies; Jordan ranked #131 with 2,732 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jonah or Jordan?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jonah is holding its place on the charts; Jordan moved down 49 places.
- Which is the older name, Jonah or Jordan?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Jonah and Jordan?
- About 83,000 people named Jonah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 388,000 people named Jordan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jonahs or Jordans in the classroom?
- Jonah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jordan 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
Keep playing
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