Jonathen
Masculine · “the Lord has given”
Jonathen writes the last vowel as an e, which changes nothing at all, and the name it respells belongs to one of the few friendships the Hebrew Bible describes at length. It also belongs, at present, to the oldest known living land animal: a tortoise on St Helena who was already fully grown when he arrived there in the eighteen eighties.
How old is the name Jonathen?
Jonathen first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Jonathen alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 1,400 people named Jonathen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jonathen most popular?
Jonathen peaked in 1988, reaching #1576 nationally. See the whole 1988 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Hebrew sentence-name about divine giving to Jonathen
The story of Jonathen
The tortoise was brought to St Helena from the Seychelles in the eighteen eighties, already mature, which puts his hatching somewhere around the eighteen thirties. He has outlived every governor of the island since, has been photographed with several of them, is blind from cataracts and has lost his sense of smell, and still eats well and shows no sign of stopping. He was given the name in the nineteen thirties by a governor who thought he should have one. He is the oldest known living land animal on the planet and there is no particular reason to expect that to change soon, which makes him one of the very few individuals alive who was born before photography was in general use.
Meaning
the Lord has given
A Hebrew sentence-name joining a verb about giving with a short form of the divine name, and the reading is settled. It is a different name from the one behind John, though the two are constantly assumed to be related; they share the divine element and nothing else. The final vowel in this spelling is reduced to almost nothing in speech, which is why it can be written with any letter.
How the name formed
- A Hebrew sentence-name about divine giving
- Carried by Saul's son in the books of Samuel
- Jonathan in continuous English use
- Jonathen, with the last vowel respelled
Related forms: Yonatan · Jonatan · Jonathan
Pronouncing Jonathen
JON-uh-thun
Three syllables, stress on the first, with the last reduced almost to nothing. That reduction is exactly why the vowel there can be written as a, e or o without changing anything a listener could detect.
Nicknames for Jonathen
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
- 1954
- Most boys named
- 200059 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1576reached in 1988
- Change vs 2017
- −12.5%7 in 2018, from 8
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.
Jonathen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yonatan in Hebrew — same name
- Jonatan in Spanish — spelling variant
- Jonathan in French — same name
Jonathens among us
people named Jonathen 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
Jonathen 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 sound is universally known and never needs explaining.
- Jon and Nate are two very different short forms and both are complete names.
- It carries a settled Hebrew meaning that can be told in five words.
- Jonathan is the standard spelling and this one will be corrected into it constantly.
- The respelled vowel is inaudible, so the spelling has to be given every time.
- It is often assumed to be a form of John, and it is not.
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What they receive
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Jonathen
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jonathens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Jonathen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jonathen in 2025?
- Jonathen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jonathen with classmates?
- Jonathen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jonathen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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