Boy names that start with J
No letter has been better served by the Bible than J: James, John, Jacob, Joseph and Joshua are five separate Hebrew names and all five are in the current American top 100. James leads them, with Jack a short way behind. Below, the J names worth knowing, each linked to a full page.
Most popular J names right now
Thirteen J names hold places in the current U.S. Social Security top 100, more than any letter but A. Twelve of them are listed here; José appears further down the page. Ranks below are their real positions.
- #6JamesJAYMZHebrew
Traditionally supplanter; the English form of Jacob, by way of Latin Iacomus. Seven kings of Scotland and six American presidents.
- #15JackJAKEnglish
God is gracious, inherited from John through the medieval pet form Jankin. Britain's default boy's name for a full generation.
- #23JohnJONHebrew
Yahweh is gracious. The most-given boy's name in the English-speaking world for roughly five centuries, and still inside the top 25.
- #25JulianJOO-lee-unLatin
Belonging to Julius. A Roman clan name that became a saint's name and then a soft modern favourite.
- #29JosephJOH-zifHebrew
He will add; may God add another. Carried by the dreamer of Genesis and by the carpenter of Nazareth.
- #36JacksonJAK-sunEnglish
Son of Jack. An American surname name with a president at one end and a painter at the other.
- #43JacobJAY-kubHebrew
He grasps the heel; supplanter. Jacob led the U.S. charts from 1999 to 2012 and has settled comfortably since.
- #54Josiahjoh-SY-uhHebrew
The Lord supports; the Lord heals. A reforming boy king of Judah, and a Puritan revival that never quite stopped.
- #66JoshuaJOSH-oo-uhHebrew
Yahweh is salvation — ultimately the same name as Jesus. Moses' successor, who led Israel across the Jordan.
- #70JaydenJAY-denModern American
A modern American coinage with no settled meaning, sometimes linked to Hebrew Jadon. The engine of the whole -ayden family.
- #88Jeremiahjer-uh-MY-uhHebrew
Yahweh will exalt. The prophet whose long lament gave English the word jeremiad.
- #89JonathanJON-uh-thunHebrew
Yahweh has given. Saul's son and David's friend, in one of the warmest relationships in the Hebrew Bible.
Classic J names
- JasperJAS-perEnglish
Uncertain, though often given as treasurer. By tradition it belongs to one of the three magi.
- JudeJOODHebrew
Praised, thanked. Judah in English dress, and the patron saint of hopeless cases.
- JudahJOO-duhHebrew
Praised. Jacob's fourth son, and the tribe whose name stands behind the word Jew.
- JesseJESS-eeHebrew
Traditionally gift; possibly he exists. David's father, and the root of the Tree of Jesse in medieval glass.
- JoelJOH-elHebrew
Yahweh is God. One of the twelve minor prophets, and a name that has never needed reviving.
- JordanJOR-dunHebrew
To flow down, to descend — the river first. Crusaders brought water home and the name followed.
- JaredJAIR-idHebrew
Descent; he descends. A name from the Genesis genealogies that the 1960s pulled into everyday use.
Spanish and Portuguese J names
- Josého-SEHSpanish
He will add; may God add another. One of the most-given names in the Spanish-speaking world, and still inside the current U.S. top 100.
- JuanHWAHNSpanish
God is gracious; the Spanish John, and one of the commonest names in the language.
- JorgeHOR-hehSpanish
Farmer; worker of the earth. The Spanish George, and the given name of Jorge Luis Borges.
- JaimeHIGH-mehSpanish
A Spanish form of James, and behind it Hebrew Ya'aqov. Not the English Jamie, and not pronounced like it.
- Joaquinwah-KEENSpanish
Raised up by Yahweh. Church tradition gives the name to the father of the Virgin Mary.
- Jesúsheh-SOOSSpanish
The Lord is salvation. Entirely ordinary as a given name in Spain and Latin America, where English speakers find it startling.
- Javierhah-vee-AIRSpanish
The new house. It comes from Francis Xavier's birthplace in Navarre, so the name is a place before it is a person.
- Joãozhoo-OWNGPortuguese
Yahweh is gracious; the Portuguese John. Six kings of Portugal answered to it.
J names from around the world
- Jabarijah-BAH-reeSwahili
Mighty, valiant, brave. Swahili took it from Arabic jabbar and made it its own.
- JumaJOO-mahSwahili
Born on a Friday. Swahili keeps a full set of day names, and this one belongs to the day of congregational prayer.
- Jamaljah-MAHLArabic
Beauty, grace. Arabic often uses the bare abstract noun as a name, and this is a clean example.
- Jamshidjahm-SHEEDPersian
Jam the radiant: the shining world-king of the Shahnameh. Persepolis is Takht-e Jamshid, his throne.
- JagjitJUG-jeetPunjabi
Conqueror of the world, from Sanskrit jagat and jita. Like most Punjabi compounds it is used by men and women alike.
- JaiJYSanskrit
Victory, and also a shout of acclamation — the word in Jai Hind.
- JunjyoonChinese
Talented, outstanding: 俊, the one who stands out. The same character sits inside a great many Korean names.
- JihoonJEE-hoonKorean
The hanja decide the sense, most often 志 will or 智 wisdom joined to 勳 merit.
- Jarosławya-RAW-swahfPolish
Fierce glory; vigorous in fame. Yaroslav the Wise, who bore the same name in the east, ruled Kievan Rus at its height.
Unique J names
- JarlYARLScandinavian
Nobleman: the Norse rank immediately below a king, and the word English turned into earl.
- JosteinYOO-staynNorwegian
Horse and stone, welded into one word. Jostein Gaarder wrote Sophie's World.
- JaloYAH-lohFinnish
Noble, high-minded. The same adjective sits inside jalokivi, a gemstone — literally a noble stone.
- JelleYEL-uhFrisian
A Frisian short form of a Germanic compound now lost. Frisian is not a dialect of Dutch but English's closest living relative.
- JoostYOHSTDutch
Just and fair, or from an old Breton word for lord — the reference books split on it.
- JaapYAHPDutch
From Jacob: the one who grasps the heel. Dutch shortens hard, and this is what survives.
- JędrekYEN-drekPolish
Manly, brave — the Polish pet form of Andrew, and a good deal warmer than Andrzej.
- JaromírYAH-ro-meerCzech
Fierce peace. Slavic name-building joins jary, vigorous, to mir, which means both peace and world.
Keep browsing
The same names sort another way too — by origin, or by meaning.