Jason
Masculine · “healer”
Jason is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,052,030 boys against 5,028 girls since 1880. See Jason as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jason alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 979,000 people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jason most popular?
Jason peaked in 1974, reaching #2 nationally. Today it ranks #165, 163 places below that high. See the whole 1974 chart.
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.
Cultural footprint
Jason Momoa (b. 1979) — Aquaman
Jason Bateman (b. 1969) — Ozark and Arrested Development star
Jason Statham (b. 1967) — Action cinema's go-to tough guy
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 197552,159 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2reached in 1974
- Change vs 2022
- −14.8%2,224 in 2025, from 2,609
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Jasons among us
people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 768 born in 2025 was named Jason
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The James test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jason's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: James climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and James's path sketches the road Jason is walking now.
Jason peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Jason is headed
Jason 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.
Jason beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jason in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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
Masculine · #165 in the U.S.
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 979,000 people named Jason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jason in 2025?
- Jason ranks #165 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,224 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jason?
- About 1 in every 768 US boys born in 2025 was named Jason — 2,224 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jason with classmates?
- Jason will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jason
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ace#164 · Connor#166 · Jayce#167 · Hayes#162 · Ivan#162 · Beckham#168 · Jett#169 · Hayden#161
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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