Jonas
Meaning
dove (Greek New Testament form of the Hebrew Jonah, carried into French)
The story
Jonas is two names wearing one spelling. In Sweden, Germany, France and some English Bibles it is the Greek form of Jonah, the prophet's name that traces to the Hebrew for dove. In Lithuania it is the everyday form of John, the country's most common name, with a completely different root. The American record carries both inheritances without asking which is which: Jonas appears in every decade since the 1890s, from 196 boys then to 2,717 in the 1990s. Then the 2000s posted 7,275, and we will note only that three brothers formed a rather famous band under the name in 2005 and let the reader draw the line. Brazil runs deeper still: 160,223 residents named Jonas in the 2022 census, ranked 211th nationwide. A prophet's name in one tradition, John's in another, a band name in a third, and useful in every language it has landed in.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jonas peaked in the 2010s.
Popularity in Brazil
160,223 people · the #211 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,267 · median age 31
Among people named Jonas living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 5,661 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Jonas
Most people given the name Jonas in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Jonas deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jonas 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 Jonas fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Jonas travels
Haitian · A familiar given name in Haiti.
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