Jackson
Feminine · “English "son of Jack”
Jackson is given to boys far more often — 297,220 boys against 778 girls since 1880. See Jackson as a boy name
Jackson means son of Jack, and it is being given to daughters without any respelling to soften it — which is unusual. Addison becomes Addisyn and Emerson becomes Emersyn, but Jackson generally stays Jackson, and the literal claim stays visible on the page.
How old is the name Jackson?
Jackson first appears in US birth records in 1925 — 100 years ago. The typical Jackson alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 800 people named Jackson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jackson most popular?
Jackson peaked in 2004, reaching #2556 nationally. Today it ranks #7133, 4,577 places below that high. See the whole 2004 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yohanan to Jackson
The story of Jackson
Jackson entered American given-name use through Andrew Jackson and stayed a modest boys' name for a century and a half before rising steeply after 2000 to become a top-twenty name. Its appearance in the female column, peaking in 2004, follows the general movement of hard surnames to girls. What distinguishes it from Addison and Emerson is that the son in Jackson is stressed differently and reads more clearly as the word — which may be why so few families respell it, and why the female use has stayed small.
Meaning
English "son of Jack", and therefore of John
Jack is a medieval English pet form of John, probably through Jankin, and the connection to French Jacques is a common but mistaken assumption. John is Hebrew Yohanan, God is gracious. So Jackson means, at three removes, the son of a man called God-is-gracious. The etymology is settled at every step.
How the name formed
- Yohanan
- John
- Jack
- Jackson
Pronouncing Jackson
JAK-sun
Two syllables with the stress on the first and the second vowel reduced. There is no pronunciation difficulty at all; the question with this name is entirely one of what it says.
Nicknames for Jackson
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1925
- Most girls named
- 200465 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2556reached in 2004
- Change vs 2024
- −28.6%15 in 2025, from 21
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Jackson in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Jacksons among us
people named Jackson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 107,151 born in 2025 was named Jackson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jackson
- #7133
- Jackson on the 2025 chart
- #938
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jackson went to 15 girls in 2025, but Jaxon is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 22, which makes it the 938th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,195 places above the chart.
- Jackson15
- Jaxon7
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 107,151 for Jackson itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Micha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jackson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Micha climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Micha's path sketches the road Jackson is walking now.
Jackson 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Jackson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jackson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The etymology is settled all the way back to the first century.
- Jack and Jackie are both established short forms, one of them female-reading.
- It is impossible to misspell or mispronounce.
- It is a top-twenty American boys' name and will be read as male everywhere.
- The literal meaning is son of, and unlike its cousins it is not respelled to hide that.
- Forms and systems will assume the wrong sex.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Jackson
Feminine · #7133 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jacksons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Jackson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Jackson?
- Jackson is the most-used spelling in US records — 15 of the 22 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Jaxon.
- How popular is the name Jackson in 2025?
- Jackson ranks #7133 among US girl names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jackson?
- About 1 in every 107,151 US girls born in 2025 was named Jackson — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jackson with classmates?
- Jackson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jackson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Pennie#7133 · Zina#7133 · Elzie#7133 · Rosabel#7133 · Adelene#7133 · Cruz#7133 · Kansas#7133 · Ione#7133
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jackson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jackson and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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