# Why is "John" the most popular male name in the Western World? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525 "2003-07-24T02:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/1 "2003-07-24T02:23:15Z")
I do realise John the Baptist was quite important, and there were other famous “Johns” in the Bible starting with the Apostle John. So even at the time of Christ it seemed rather popular in the Jewish world. Why has it continued to be the most common traditional male name in practivally every Western or Christian nation? Why not Joseph (which also has two prominent Biblical namesakes), Jacob/James, Paul, David, Matthew, Mark, Luke, …or a non-Biblical name? I mean in the case of the Islamic world it is very clear why Muhammad/Mohamed/Mehmet is the most common name. The popularity of John/Jean/Juan/Johannes/Ivan is less clear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/2 "2003-07-24T03:26:49Z")
Well, there’s the people who use the Biblical name in hopes the kid will get to heaven even if they whack a few people, etc., there are the people who like the name in and of itself, but mostly there’s all the ho’s who name their kids after their daddy. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/3 "2003-07-24T03:34:05Z")
So prostitutes don’t have to remember something really difficult like, “Bartholomew.” ---
**Author:** ![BellaVoce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@BellaVoce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellaVoce)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/4 "2003-07-24T03:53:06Z")
Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/5 "2003-07-24T03:55:53Z")
The Biblical explanation is probably the best one, because of the near universal impact of the Bible on western countries. Note that John is also the most popular name for Popes. Books on names and naming I’ve read say that in Britain and in countries affected by the British Empire, thereby including the U.S., King John had a huge influence. The number of Johns in the record books jumps at that time, and the name was frequently given to children by fathers named John perpetuating it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/6 "2003-07-24T03:58:08Z")
Because. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/7 "2003-07-24T04:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*The Biblical explanation is probably the best one, because of the near universal impact of the Bible on western countries. Note that John is also the most popular name for Popes. > > Books on names and naming I’ve read say that in Britain and in countries affected by the British Empire, thereby including the U.S., King John had a huge influence. The number of Johns in the record books jumps at that time, and the name was frequently given to children by fathers named John perpetuating it. \*\* King John’s “influence” was generally perceived as negative. So negative, in fact, that ever since his death, no one in the British royal family has named a son John. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/8 "2003-07-24T04:06:26Z")
In the 1990 US census, James was more popular than John. [http://landview.census.gov/genealogy/names/](http://landview.census.gov/genealogy/names/) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/9 "2003-07-24T04:29:55Z")
“John” wins almost 2 to 1 in a [Googlefight!](http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=John&q2=James&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/10 "2003-07-24T04:50:48Z")
aahala is correct. James is a more popular name then John. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/11 "2003-07-24T04:52:24Z")
oops - that posting should read “THAN John”. Please pardon that grammatical error. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/12 "2003-07-24T07:00:35Z")
Ever think about how many toilets there are in the world? Well, there you go. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/13 "2003-07-24T12:06:50Z")
I always thought it’s because there are two big saints in the New Testament named John. That automatically doubles the use of the name. There are two Jameses too, but St. James the Less is very obscure and I doubt anyone has him in mind when naming. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/14 "2003-07-24T13:54:04Z")
I think an easy answer to the OP is that it’s based on a wrong premise. John has clearly lost its #1 place. At least in the U.S. and Canada, the most popular male name, for many years now, is Jacob; prior to that Michael had a string of years in the #1 spot. “John” hasn’t cracked the top ten in a decade. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/15 "2003-07-24T13:56:45Z")
That would be fair comment if “the U.S and Canada” was the same as “the Western World” as mentioned in the OP. But it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/16 "2003-07-24T15:34:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*I think an easy answer to the OP is that it’s based on a wrong premise. John has clearly lost its #1 place. At least in the U.S. and Canada, the most popular male name, for many years now, is Jacob; prior to that Michael had a string of years in the #1 spot. > > “John” hasn’t cracked the top ten in a decade. \*\* You’re thinking of the naming of male babies in the U.S. But how popular is John among males of all ages in the U.S.? Others are saying it is #2 behind “James”. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/17 "2003-07-24T15:55:44Z")
Far be it from me to explain what the OP wanted to know, but he was very specific about including the variants John, Jean, Juan, Johannes and Ivan. In fact those only scratched the surface. Others include Sean, Ian, Iain, Owen, Ewan, Eoin, Jan, Johan, Yvon, Gianni, Joan, Ion, Hans, Hannes and many more. That led me to conclude that he was asking about the widespread nature of the name traditionally, not its popularity in the USA over the last decade or so. I’m afraid I can’t answer the question though. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/18 "2003-07-24T16:11:35Z")
Besides, even if the current naming trend has dethroned John from its long-running top spot, I bet most of the population is still over 10 years old. There are still a lot of 20-year-old fogeys and 30-year-old geezers remaining alive from those long-ago days of old. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/19 "2003-07-24T16:30:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*King John’s “influence” was generally perceived as negative. So negative, in fact, that ever since his death, no one in the British royal family has named a son John. \*\* Yes, I’m aware of this. John was hated even in his lifetime. However, it seems to be historically true that John becomes important in England about then. I’ll have to try to finding the book for an explanation. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525/20 "2003-07-24T17:13:49Z")
For all I know “Tyler” or “Shawn” (actually a corrupted version of the Irish name for John) are _currently_ more popular than plain “John” in the United States, but I am thinking in more broad terms…across the last millenium. And we still have John Doe, John Q. Public, John Bull, Johnny Sixpack, and John Smithee. Kings may be the exception; has France ever had a Roi Jean? Or Germany a Kaiser Johannes? Spain now has a Juan Carlos, but never plain Juan…maybe that name just isn’t as “kingly” as Charles, Henry, or Louis. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-john-the-most-popular-male-name-in-the-western-world/190525.md?page=2)