Head to head · Boys' names
Jonah vs Landon
#128 vs #127 in 2025
Landon is a whisker ahead (#127 vs #128 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Landon is stepping back from its peak, Jonah is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Jonah 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
On the charts, Landon leads 4 measures of 6; Jonah leads 1.
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, Landon #855 — Jonah higher
- 1890s: Jonah #841, Landon #885 — Jonah higher
- 1900s: Jonah #1036, Landon #1100 — Jonah higher
- 1910s: Jonah #1238, Landon #1313 — Jonah higher
- 1920s: Jonah #1285, Landon #1244 — Landon higher
- 1930s: Jonah #1397, Landon #1150 — Landon higher
- 1940s: Jonah #1427, Landon #1239 — Landon higher
- 1950s: Jonah #1428, Landon #1313 — Landon higher
- 1960s: Jonah #1451, Landon #923 — Landon higher
- 1970s: Jonah #653, Landon #641 — Landon higher
- 1980s: Jonah #523, Landon #336 — Landon higher
- 1990s: Jonah #373, Landon #245 — Landon higher
- 2000s: Jonah #169, Landon #96 — Landon higher
- 2010s: Jonah #142, Landon #46 — Landon higher
- 2020s: Jonah #130, Landon #93 — Landon higher
Landon stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Landon has held the lead since the 1920s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jonah | Landon |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #708 | #855 |
| 1890s | #841 | #885 |
| 1900s | #1036 | #1100 |
| 1910s | #1238 | #1313 |
| 1920s | #1285 | #1244 |
| 1930s | #1397 | #1150 |
| 1940s | #1427 | #1239 |
| 1950s | #1428 | #1313 |
| 1960s | #1451 | #923 |
| 1970s | #653 | #641 |
| 1980s | #523 | #336 |
| 1990s | #373 | #245 |
| 2000s | #169 | #96 |
| 2010s | #142 | #46 |
| 2020s | #130 | #93 |
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.
Landon
long hill
The main reading traces Landon to the English surname Langdon, from Old English lang (long) and dūn (hill or down) — the name of several places in the English southwest. A second reading connects it to Norman French lande, a heath or open moor, which produced surnames such as Landon in France. Both are respectable; the English hill is the more commonly cited.
lang dūn (Old English, "long hill") → Langdon (English place name) → Langdon (surname) → Landon
How it traveled
Old English gave England hundreds of hills called dūn, and a long one was a langdūn — a description that hardened into place names and then into the surnames of families who came from them. Landon is the worn-down spelling of that surname, and like Hunter and Carson it crossed the Atlantic on the family side of the ledger before anyone thought to hand it to a baby as a first name.
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.
Landon
LAN-dun
Stress on the first syllable; the second is a soft, unstressed -dun. One pronunciation everywhere in American English.
- Lando — Informal shortening; also stands alone in Italian as a short form of Orlando.
- Lan — Very short, used within families rather than on paperwork.
- Landy — Informal, more common in childhood and on sports teams.
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
Landon
Landon Donovan (b. 1982) — US soccer's all-time great
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 long American recordJonah was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 78% for Landon
Choose Landon if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLandon is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalLandon entered the US charts in 1882
- a name that feels very nowLandon 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.
Landon
Strengths
- Reads and spells itself on first hearing for American English speakers — no accents, no silent letters, no correction routine.
- Two syllables with the stress up front, which sits easily beside most one- and two-syllable surnames.
- A documented English surname history stretching back to Old English place names, rather than a coinage.
To consider
- Landen, Landyn and Landin all exist, so the spelling will occasionally be checked even though yours is the standard one.
- It sits close to Brandon and to London in sound, and gets misheard as both over the phone.
- The name's big rise is recent enough that most Landons alive are children and teenagers — it may read as belonging to a particular stretch of years rather than as an old family name.
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.
Landon
78%chance Landon feels dated by 2040
Landon is coming down from a big peak (#33 in 2010). 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 Landon 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 Jonah and Landon — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jonah or Landon — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jonah or Landon?
- Landon, in 2025: Landon ranked #127 with 2,840 babies; Jonah ranked #128 with 2,828 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jonah or Landon?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jonah is holding its place on the charts; Landon moved down 58 places.
- Which is the older name, Jonah or Landon?
- Jonah was already in use when US records began in 1880; Landon entered the US charts in 1882. On the American record, Jonah is the older name.
- How many people are named Jonah and Landon?
- About 83,000 people named Jonah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 183,000 people named Landon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jonahs or Landons in the classroom?
- Jonah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Landon 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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