Jason
Feminine · “healer”
Jason is given to boys far more often — 1,052,030 boys against 5,028 girls since 1880. See Jason as a boy name
Jason is a Greek name with a Hebrew job. Iason comes from a verb meaning to heal, and it belonged to the leader of the Argonauts; but Greek-speaking Jews of the Hellenistic period also used it as a stand-in for Joshua, because it sounded near enough and looked properly Greek. Both Jasons are in the record.
How old is the name Jason?
Jason first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Jason alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 4,800 people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jason most popular?
Jason peaked in 1975, reaching #559 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Iason to Jason
The story of Jason
The Argonaut story is one of the oldest in Greek literature — older than the Iliad in its bones — and it is not a flattering one about its hero: Jason gets the fleece because Medea does the difficult parts, then abandons her, and the play about what she does next is still performed constantly. The name reached English through the New Testament rather than the myth, stayed rare for centuries, and then became one of the most-used American men's names within about fifteen years in the middle of the last century.
Meaning
healer
Greek Iason is generally derived from iasthai, to heal — the same root as the word for a physician — which fits a hero whose tutor was the centaur Chiron, a healer. The derivation is standard. Separately, Jews under Greek rule frequently took a Greek name that resembled their Hebrew one, and Jason was the usual substitute for Yehoshua. A Jason appears in the New Testament as Paul's host in Thessalonica, and he is almost certainly one of those.
How the name formed
- Iason
- Jason
Related forms: Ἰάσων · Jasón · Jason · Giasone
Pronouncing Jason
JAY-sun
JAY-sun, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. Greek said it with three, ee-AH-sohn, and the weight in the middle — the English name is a considerable simplification of the original.
Nicknames for Jason
Moderate
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
- 1953
- Most girls named
- 1977313 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #559reached in 1975
- Change vs 2019
- −50.0%5 in 2022, from 10
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.
Jason in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ἰάσων in Greek — transliteration
- Jasón in Spanish — same name
- Jason in French — same name
- Giasone in Italian — same name
Jasons among us
people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jason sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is a healer, which is among the better things a name can say.
- Jay and Jace are both complete short forms in different registers.
- It has both a Greek myth and a New Testament bearer behind it, which is an unusual pair.
- The spelling is completely settled and has never varied.
- A very great many people carry it, so a Jason will rarely be the only one in a workplace.
- It is very closely tied to one American generation and dates a person about as precisely as a name can.
- The mythological Jason behaves badly in the best-known version of his story, which anyone reading the play will notice.
- This spelling is recorded for girls too, though so rarely that a girl named Jason will be read as a boy on every form.
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What they receive
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Jason
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jasons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,800 people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jason in 2025?
- Jason is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jason with classmates?
- Jason will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jason? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jason and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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