Head to head · Boys' names
Jonathan vs Jose
#89 vs #95 in 2025
Jonathan is a whisker ahead (#89 vs #95 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jonathan 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
On the charts, Jonathan leads 4 measures of 6; Jose leads 0.
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: Jonathan #422, Jose #150 — Jose higher
- 1890s: Jonathan #589, Jose #161 — Jose higher
- 1900s: Jonathan #670, Jose #133 — Jose higher
- 1910s: Jonathan #628, Jose #156 — Jose higher
- 1920s: Jonathan #608, Jose #123 — Jose higher
- 1930s: Jonathan #461, Jose #135 — Jose higher
- 1940s: Jonathan #222, Jose #138 — Jose higher
- 1950s: Jonathan #131, Jose #111 — Jose higher
- 1960s: Jonathan #79, Jose #86 — Jonathan higher
- 1970s: Jonathan #33, Jose #48 — Jonathan higher
- 1980s: Jonathan #17, Jose #48 — Jonathan higher
- 1990s: Jonathan #21, Jose #35 — Jonathan higher
- 2000s: Jonathan #23, Jose #33 — Jonathan higher
- 2010s: Jonathan #46, Jose #76 — Jonathan higher
- 2020s: Jonathan #80, Jose #92 — Jonathan higher
Jose stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Jonathan has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jonathan | Jose |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #422 | #150 |
| 1890s | #589 | #161 |
| 1900s | #670 | #133 |
| 1910s | #628 | #156 |
| 1920s | #608 | #123 |
| 1930s | #461 | #135 |
| 1940s | #222 | #138 |
| 1950s | #131 | #111 |
| 1960s | #79 | #86 |
| 1970s | #33 | #48 |
| 1980s | #17 | #48 |
| 1990s | #21 | #35 |
| 2000s | #23 | #33 |
| 2010s | #46 | #76 |
| 2020s | #80 | #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
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.
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
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.
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.
Who has carried each name
Jonathan
Jonathan Swift (b. 1667) — Wrote Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Banks (b. 1947) — Breaking Bad's Mike
Jose
No documented entry for Jose yet.
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 Jonathan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJonathan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJonathan runs 3 syllables, Jose 2
Choose Jose if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesJose is 2 syllables to Jonathan's 3
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
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.
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.
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 Jonathan 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 Jonathan and Jose?
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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
- America's top 100 names right now
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- all guides
Every list here names both Jonathan and Jose — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jonathan or Jose — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jonathan or Jose?
- Jonathan, in 2025: Jonathan ranked #89 with 3,822 babies; Jose ranked #95 with 3,678 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jonathan or Jose?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jonathan moved down 19 places; Jose moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Jonathan or Jose?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Jonathan and Jose?
- About 818,000 people named Jonathan 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 Jonathans or Joses in the classroom?
- Jonathan 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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