Jesus
Masculine · “the Lord is salvation”
Jesus is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 244,281 boys against 2,685 girls since 1880. See Jesus as a girl name
English does not give this name and Spanish does, and the difference is entirely one of custom rather than of theology. Spanish-speaking Catholic families have used Jesús for centuries as an ordinary man's name — a devotion, not a claim — while English-speaking Christians treat it as reserved. Two traditions, the same reverence, opposite conclusions about what to call a son.
How old is the name Jesus?
Jesus was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Jesus alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 217,000 people named Jesus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jesus most popular?
Jesus peaked in 2001, reaching #66 nationally. Today it ranks #173, 107 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yeshua to Jesus
The story of Jesus
The letter J was invented, in effect, by Renaissance printers who wanted to distinguish the consonant from the vowel, and it did not settle into English until the seventeenth century — which means every spelling of this name older than about four hundred years begins with an I. Spanish naming took the name up devotionally, often in compounds like José de Jesús or María de Jesús, and it became one of the standard men's names of Mexico and Central America. American records carry it from the beginning and it has been steadily used ever since, concentrated where those families settled.
Meaning
the Lord is salvation
From the Hebrew Yeshua, a shortened form of Yehoshua — the same name as Joshua. Greek wrote it Iesous because Greek had no sh sound and needed a masculine ending; Latin made Iesus; and the J is a very late arrival, since the letter did not exist as separate from I until the sixteenth century.
How the name formed
- Yeshua
- Iesous
- Iesus
- Jesús
Related forms: Jesús · Jesus · Yeshua · Isa · Iesous
Pronouncing Jesus
heh-SOOS
Two syllables, stress at the back, with the j as a throat sound close to an English h and an accent on the u in Spanish spelling. English speakers say JEE-zus, which is the same name and a completely different word to the ear — and the source of a great deal of daily friction for people who carry it in the United States.
Nicknames for Jesus
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
- 20046,472 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #66reached in 2001
- Change vs 2022
- −8.0%2,078 in 2025, from 2,259
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.
Jesus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jesús in Spanish — same name
- Jesus in Portuguese — same name
- Yeshua in Hebrew — transliteration
- Isa in Arabic — related form
- Iesous in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Arizona.
Jesuss among us
people named Jesus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 822 born in 2025 was named Jesus
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 Alvin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jesus's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alvin climbed just as high around 1927, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alvin's path sketches the road Jesus is walking now.
Jesus 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
Where Jesus is headed
Jesus 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.
Jesus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jesus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is entirely standard across the Spanish-speaking world and carries a real devotional weight there.
- Chuy is a warm and universally understood short form in Mexican families.
- The name is the same as Joshua, which is a genuinely surprising fact to be able to give.
- Five letters, two syllables, and easy in Spanish.
- English speakers read it as the religious figure rather than as a name, and a man will correct that assumption regularly in the United States.
- The accent belongs on it in Spanish and will not survive an American form.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the record's girls are very few.
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What they receive
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Jesus
Masculine · #173 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jesuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 217,000 people named Jesus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jesus in 2025?
- Jesus ranks #173 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,078 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jesus?
- About 1 in every 822 US boys born in 2025 was named Jesus — 2,078 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jesus with classmates?
- Jesus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jesus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nico#174 · Braxton#172 · Barrett#171 · Felix#175 · Antonio#176 · Matias#170 · Jett#169 · Nicolas#177
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jesus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jesus and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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