Jackson
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Meaning
"son of Jack," a surname built on the medieval everyman form of John; presidential, bluesy, and frontier-flavored, it led the 2000s surname wave for boys and spun off spellings from Jaxon to Jaxson. Jack comes free
Goes by Jack, Jax. See all nicknames
The story
Jackson means son of Jack, and Jack was the medieval everyman form of John, so the surname belonged to half of England before it belonged to anyone in particular. In America it gathered flavor: a president in Andrew Jackson, a painter in Jackson Pollock, a bluesy city in Mississippi, the Johnny Cash and June Carter duet. As a first name it idled far down the records for a century, then rose in the 1990s with the surname wave it came to lead, reaching the top tier in the 2010s and holding exactly there through the 2020s. Spellings from Jaxon to Jaxson spun off along the way, a reliable sign that a name has become a sound as much as a word. And Jack, of course, comes free: two good names for the effort of choosing one.
Jackson across languages
One shared root links 47 names across 10 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Yochanan "God is gracious", carried through Greek Ioannes and Latin Iohannes into nearly every European language
The constellation
37 more branches of this family
How popular is Jackson around the world?
In the United States, 47,474 babies were named Jackson between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 50 boys were registered as Jackson in 2017.
Jackson is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland, New South Wales, England and Wales, Ireland, Brazil, Austria, France, Mexico City, Chile, Argentina and Spain.
United States
1 in 460
In the United States, 47,474 babies were named Jackson between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jackson peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. Jackson went to 12,323 US babies in 2015 and 6,597 in 2025, 54% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 3702017
In South Australia, 50 boys were registered as Jackson in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 510
In Canada, 721 boys named Jackson were born in 2024, the 25th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 930
In New Zealand, 62 boys named Jackson were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
1 in 1,200
In Scotland, 37 boys named Jackson were registered in 2024, the 130th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
New South Wales
#90 · 2025
In New South Wales, 94 boys named Jackson were registered in 2025, ranked 90th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 1,600
In England and Wales, 372 boys named Jackson were born in 2025, the 138th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 2,300
In Ireland, 24 boys named Jackson were born in 2025, the 198th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Brazil
1 in 2,800
At the 2022 census, 72,948 people in Brazil were named Jackson, the 414th most common name, with a median age of 29.
Among people named Jackson living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 1,095 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 boys named Jackson were born in 2025, the 981st most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
France
1 in 26,000
In France, about 25 boys named Jackson were born in 2025, ranked 1,262nd among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Jackson in 2022.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 59,000
In Chile, 3 boys were registered as Jackson in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 66,000
In Argentina, 10 newborns were given the name Jackson in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 260,000
In Spain, 171 residents are named Jackson, ranked 5,263rd among men, with a mean age of 28.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Montevideo City
last on record 2008
Jackson is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Jackson
Most people given the name Jackson in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Jackson · Names that go with Jackson · Nicknames for Jackson · Middle names for Jackson · English-Brazilian names · Names of great artists · Climbers and fallers
The Jackson deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jackson truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jackson fits with your family’s names and surname.
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