Jackson
Masculine · “Son of Jack”
Jackson is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 297,220 boys against 778 girls since 1880. See Jackson as a girl name
Jackson began as a plain statement of fact in medieval England — Jack's son — and spent centuries as a surname before American parents moved it to the front of the name. It has the shape English speakers reach for again and again: a hard opening consonant, a clean break in the middle, and an unstressed ending that needs no explaining. Anyone who has stood in a gallery in front of a Jackson Pollock canvas has already heard it used as a first name.
How old is the name Jackson?
Jackson was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jackson alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 286,000 people named Jackson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jackson most popular?
Jackson peaked in 2021, reaching #14 nationally. Today it ranks #36, 22 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yohanan to Jackson
The story of Jackson
The name is an English patronymic surname, formed the ordinary way: a father called Jack, a son recorded as Jackson. It was well established across England by the later medieval period and traveled with English-speaking settlers to North America, Australia and beyond. The American habit of promoting surnames to given names picked it up early, and it has been on US birth records continuously since record-keeping began. It charts in Canada too, and is strongest in the largest US states.
Meaning
Son of Jack
Jack itself is a medieval English pet form of John — Johan became Jankin, then Jackin, then Jack — so Jackson traces back through it to the Hebrew Yohanan, "God is gracious."
Cultural footprint
Jackson Pollock (b. 1912) — Revolutionized art with his drip paintings
Jackson Browne (b. 1948) — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Yohanan
- Johannes
- John
- Jack
- Jackson
Related forms: Jaxon · Jaxson · Johnson · Janssen · Jansson
Pronouncing Jackson
JAK-sun
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in the English-speaking world, and it survives most other languages intact.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 201312,610 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #14reached in 2021
- Change vs 2022
- −18.9%6,582 in 2025, from 8,120
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
The same name elsewhere
- Jaxon in English (variant spelling) — spelling variant
- Jaxson in English (variant spelling) — spelling variant
- Johnson in English — related form
- Janssen in Dutch — related form
- Jansson in Swedish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Jacksons among us
people named Jackson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 260 born in 2025 was named Jackson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jackson
- #36
- Jackson on the 2025 chart
- #8
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jackson went to 6,582 boys in 2025, but Jaxon and Jaxson are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 12,035, which makes it the 8th most-given boys’ name of the year — 28 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 boy in 142 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 260 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 Raymond 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: Raymond climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Raymond's path sketches the road Jackson is walking now.
Jackson is coming down from a big peak (#14 in 2021). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Jackson is headed
Jackson should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jackson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jackson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two ready-made short forms in real use, Jack and Jax, one traditional and one current — the name works formally and casually without effort.
- Everyone knows how to say it on sight, and the stress never moves.
- A documented surname since the medieval period and on US birth records for the whole span of those records.
- Familiar in Canada as well as the United States, and easy for speakers of other languages to pronounce.
- Jaxon and Jaxson are both in circulation, so a Jackson will spend a lifetime confirming the spelling — c-k-s-o-n — even though his is the original.
- Most people carrying the name right now are children, teenagers and young adults, so it currently reads young rather than established; that changes as the cohort grows up.
- As a surname-name it can clash with the family surname, and it is worth saying the full name out loud a few times before deciding.
- Jack arrives with it whether you plan on it or not; if you dislike the short form, expect to correct people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Jackson to the vote.
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What they receive
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Jackson
Masculine · #36 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 286,000 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 — 6,582 of the 12,035 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Jaxon and Jaxson.
- How popular is the name Jackson in 2025?
- Jackson ranks #36 among US boy names in 2025, with 6,582 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Jackson?
- About 1 in every 260 US boys born in 2025 was named Jackson — 6,582 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.
David#35 · Gabriel#37 · Thomas#34 · Wyatt#38 · Luke#33 · Mason#39 · Bennett#40 · Matthew#32
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.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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