Jo
Feminine · “he will add”
Jo is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 179,057 girls against 1,854 boys since 1880. See Jo as a boy name
Jo is two letters and a whole nineteenth-century argument about what a girl was allowed to be. The novel that made it famous gave it to a heroine who wanted to write, refused the obvious marriage, and cut off her hair for money.
How old is the name Jo?
Jo first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Jo alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 119,000 people named Jo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jo most popular?
Jo peaked in 1947, reaching #51 nationally. Today it ranks #3975, 3,924 places below that high. See the whole 1947 chart.
Jo appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yosef to Jo
The story of Jo
The short form existed long before the book, but Little Women in 1868 fixed it. Its second March sister is Jo throughout, and the name became shorthand for a particular kind of independence for generations of readers on both sides of the Atlantic. American registration of Jo on its own rose steadily through the first half of the twentieth century, peaking in the 1940s, and it was also given constantly as the front half of a compound — Jo Ann, Bobbie Jo, Billie Jo.
Meaningscholars disagree
he will add
Through Josephine, from the Hebrew Yosef, 'he will add' — a name Genesis explains as a mother's hope for another child. Through Joanna instead, the parent is Yohanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. Both are standard parents for the short form, and it does not say which is meant.
How the name formed
- Yosef
- Josephine
- Jo
Related forms: Joséphine · Giuseppina · Johanna
Pronouncing Jo
JOH
One syllable, long o. Identical in sound to the masculine Joe, which is short for Joseph.
Nicknames for Jo
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
- 1881
- Most girls named
- 19557,656 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #51reached in 1947
- Change vs 2022
- 0.0%36 in 2025, from 36
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.
Jo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joséphine in French — related form
- Giuseppina in Italian — related form
- Johanna in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Jos among us
people named Jo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 44,646 born in 2025 was named Jo
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 Anne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anne climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anne's path sketches the road Jo is walking now.
Jo 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 Jo is headed
Jo should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Jo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- As short as a name can be while still being a name, and impossible to mishear.
- Josephine and Joanna are both available as formal forms.
- It combines readily with a second name, which is how most bearers have used it.
- Jo and Joe are homophones and the second reads as masculine, so the spelling carries the whole distinction.
- Two letters can look slight next to a long surname on a formal document.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Jo to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Jo
Feminine · #3975 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 119,000 people named Jo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jo in 2025?
- Jo ranks #3975 among US girl names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jo?
- About 1 in every 44,646 US girls born in 2025 was named Jo — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jo with classmates?
- Jo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rubie#3975 · Bradley#3975 · Jodi#3975 · An#3975 · Ilianna#3975 · Saja#3975 · Ansleigh#3975 · Dorcas#3975
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jo 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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