Juan
Masculine · “God has been gracious”
Juan is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 365,606 boys against 2,760 girls since 1880. See Juan as a girl name
Don Juan was invented by a Spanish monk. A friar writing under a pen name put the character on stage in the sixteen-hundreds — a nobleman who seduces and lies and is finally dragged to hell by a statue — and every version since, from Molière to Mozart to Byron, is working from his play.
How old is the name Juan?
Juan was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Juan alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 323,000 people named Juan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Juan most popular?
Juan peaked in 1999, reaching #46 nationally. Today it ranks #159, 113 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From Yohanan to Juan
The story of Juan
Tirso de Molina's play gave Europe a character and a phrase, and the character escaped almost immediately: within fifty years there were French and Italian versions, within two hundred there was an opera that is still performed constantly, and by the nineteenth century the name was a common noun for a particular kind of man. None of that has much to do with the name itself, which was and is one of the most ordinary in the Spanish-speaking world — the equivalent of John, given to millions of men who have never given the play a thought. It is a good example of how a name can carry a reference that almost none of its bearers intends.
Meaning
God has been gracious
From the Hebrew name behind John, through Greek and Latin into Spanish. It is the shortest surviving form of what is probably the most-used name in European history.
Cultural footprint
Juan Ponce de León (b. 1460) — Searched Florida for the fountain of youth
Juan Sebastián Elcano (b. 1486) — Completed the first voyage around the world
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Yohanan
- Iohannes
- Juan
Related forms: John · Giovanni · Jean · Joao · Ivan · Joan
Pronouncing Juan
HWAHN
One syllable in Spanish, beginning with a throaty h and a glide. American English often gives it two, WAHN or hoo-AHN.
Nicknames for Juan
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
- 20048,134 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #46reached in 1999
- Change vs 2022
- −13.5%2,318 in 2025, from 2,679
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.
Juan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- John in English — same name
- Giovanni in Italian — same name
- Jean in French — same name
- Joao in Portuguese — same name
- Ivan in Russian — same name
- Joan in Catalan — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Juans among us
people named Juan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 737 born in 2025 was named Juan
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 Dale test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Juan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dale climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dale's path sketches the road Juan is walking now.
Juan 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 Juan is headed
Juan 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.
Juan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Juan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is understood on sight across the entire Spanish-speaking world.
- It has a form in every European language, which almost no other name can claim.
- Four letters and one syllable, which sits well in front of any surname.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- English speakers regularly lose the h at the front or add a syllable.
- The Don Juan reference is unavoidable and not always welcome.
- In many Spanish-speaking families the name is expected as a compound, Juan Carlos or Juan Pablo.
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What they receive
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Juan
Masculine · #159 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Juans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 323,000 people named Juan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Juan in 2025?
- Juan ranks #159 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,318 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Juan?
- About 1 in every 737 US boys born in 2025 was named Juan — 2,318 in all.
- Will my child share the name Juan with classmates?
- Juan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Juan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elliott#160 · Diego#158 · Colter#157 · Hayden#161 · Ivan#162 · Jaxson#156 · Hayes#162 · Jude#155
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Juan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Juan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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