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Boy · Hebrew and Greek, through French
Jean-Baptiste
Say it: zhahn ba-TEEST
Meaning
French compound honouring John the Baptist; Jean is from Hebrew Yochanan 'Yahweh is gracious', Baptiste from Greek baptistes 'baptiser'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Among the commonest men's names in New France, with John the Baptist as patron of French Canadians.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 5 babies given this name since 1987
- At its height in 1987, about 1 in 373,400 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
Used by
The family of the name
| English | John the Baptist |
|---|---|
| Italian | Giovanni Battista |
| Spanish | Juan Bautista |
Famous bearers
- Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, founder of New Orleans
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Parish baptism registers
- Colonial records of the Americas
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.