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Boy · Hebrew
Jonah
Say it: JOH-nuh
Meaning
Hebrew Yonah, 'dove'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Its Greek form Jonas was used in medieval and Reformation Europe; Jonah rose again in English in the 2000s.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 71,728 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 2020, about 1 in 611 boys
- 2,813 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Jonas
| French | Jonas |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Jonás |
| Italian | Giona |
| Portuguese | Jonas |
| German | Jonas |
| Polish | Jonasz |
| Russian | Iona |
| Hebrew | Yonah |
Famous bearers
- Jonah, prophet swallowed by a great fish
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Puritan church and town records of England and New England
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- 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.