Jack

English, diminutive of John
"God is gracious"

Jack Origin and Meaning

The name Jack is a boy's name of English origin meaning "God is gracious".

Jack may have fallen from its Number 1 place in England, but in the US it's as popular as it was at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. A durable, cheery, everyman form of John, Jack ranks as one of the most popular boy names starting with J.

Jack is a derivative of John that originated in medieval England. The name went from John to Johnkin to Jankin to Jackin to Jack. The name was so common in the Middle Ages that Jack became a generic term for a man.

Jack is familiar to all from earliest childhood via Jack and Jill, Jack Sprat, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Jack Horner et al. It is still a recent favorite for novel, TV and movie characters.

Jack is at the top of the charts in Ireland and Scotland, and also ranks highly in Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

The jaunty Scottish version is Jock.

# 14 in the US

Jack Rank in US Top 1000

# 59 on Nameberry

Jack Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Jack Popularity

Famous People Named Jack

  • John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
    35th President of the United States
  • James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee
    English stand,up comedian
  • Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall
    English comedian and TV presenter
  • Jack Arthur Davenport
    English actor
  • Jackson Frayn "Jack" Harries
    English actor and vlogger
  • Jean
    Louis Lebris "Jack" Kerouac, American novelist
  • John Griffith "Jack" London
    American novelist
  • John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson
    American actor
  • Jack White (born John Anthony Gillis)
    American musician of The White Stripes
  • Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black
    American comedian and actor
  • John Hadley Nicanor "Jack" Hemingway
    American writer; son of Ernest Hemingway
  • Jack French Kemp
    U.S. Congressman from New York
  • Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman
    American actor
  • Jack Ma (Yun)
    Chinese businessman of Alibaba
  • Jack Harold Paar
    American TV personality
  • John Whitaker "Jack" Straw
    English politician
  • John Randolph "Jack" Webb
    American actor
  • Jack Wilson McConnell
    Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, former First Minister of Scotland
  • John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon
    American actor
  • John Bushnell "Jack" Hanna
    American zookeeper and TV personality
  • John Joseph "Jack" Haley
    American actor and comedian
  • Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel
    American distiller of Jack Daniel's whiskey
  • Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky)
    American actor and comedian
  • Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Palahniuk)
    American actor
  • Peter John "Jack" Wagner
    American actor
  • Jack William Nicklaus
    American golfer
  • Jack Hody Johnson
    American singer,songwriter
  • Jack Bassam Barakat
    guitarist for All Time Low
  • Jack Steinberger
    physicist and Nobel prize winner
  • Jack Antonoff
    American musician
  • Jack Wilshere
    British football Player
  • Jack Falahee
    American actor
  • John Patrick "Jack" Douglass
    American comedy vlogger
  • Jack Howard
    British vlogger known as part of Jack and Dean
  • Jack Maynard
    British vlogger
  • Jack Morris
    American baseball player
  • Jack Kevorkian
    Controversial American doctor & pathologist
  • Jack the Ripper
    nickname for an anonymous English serial killer
  • Sean "Jack" McLoughlin
    Irish YouTuber personality and gamer
  • Jack Chick
    American Christian Fundamentalist Cartoonist, creator of "Chick Tracts"
  • Jack Robert Avery
    American pop singer
  • Jack Joseph Osbourne
    American TV personality and son of Ozzy Osbourne
  • Jack Pratt
    son of actors Anna Faris and Chris Pratt
  • John Christopher "Jack" Depp III
    son of Johnny Depp
  • Jack Holden Marsden
    son of actor James Marsden
  • Jack Gordon Cassidy
    son of actor Patrick Cassidy
  • Jack Haydon Langer Courteney
    son of American actress A.J. Langer
  • Jack William Jones
    son of Ethan & Casey Jones (a quintuplet)
  • Jack Montgomery McDermott
    son of actor Dean McDermott
  • Jack Matfin Bell (b. 2013)
    son of actors Evan Rachel Wood and Jamie Bell
  • Jack Leon Lynch (b. 2013)
    son of tennis player Kim Clijsters
  • Jack Lion Hartzler (b. 2014)
    son of singer Amy Lee
  • Jack Steven Dunham (b. 2015)
    son of comedian Jeff Dunham
  • Jack Ryder Slomski (b. 2015)
    son of Instagram star Caitlin Fladager
  • Jack Breckenridge Hooper (b. 2016)
    son of actress Alexandra Breckenridge
  • Jack Clark Tapper (b. 2016)
    son of actress Annaleigh Ashford
  • Jack Oscar Statham (b. 2017)
    son of actors Rosie Huntington,Whiteley and Jason Statham
  • Jack Hiroki Gifford (b. 2018)
    son of actress Vinessa Shaw
  • Jack Adam Dykstra (b. 2018)
    son of actress Jamie,Lynn Sigler
  • Jack Shulman (b. 2019)
    son of actress Anne Hathaway.

Jack in Pop Culture

  • Jack Cox
    character on "Scrubs"
  • Jack Snyder
    character on American soap opera "As The World Turns"
  • Jack Dawson
    main character in the film "Titanic"
  • Jack Skellington
    character in Disney's "The Nightmare Before Christmas"
  • Jack Driscoll
    character in "King Kong" series
  • Jack Prescott
    character in "King Kong" series
  • Jack Napier
    character in DC Universe, Jack Napier later become the Joker
  • Captain Jack Sparrow
    main character in the Pirates of the Caribbean series
  • Jack Kelly
    main character in film and musical 'Newsies'
  • Jack Kline
    a lead character introduced in the later seasons of CW's "Supernatural"
  • Jack Merridew
    character in book/film "Lord of the Flies"
  • Jack Bauer
    main character on TV's "24"
  • Jack Ryan
    main character in novels by Tom Clancy
  • Jack Reacher
    main character in novels by Lee Child
  • Handsome Jack
    character in Borderlands series of games
  • Jonathan "Jack" West Junior
    character novels by Matthew Reilly
  • Jack Aubrey
    character in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and film "Master and Commander"
  • Jack Twist
    a character in the 'House Of Night' series (PC Cast)
  • Jack Geller
    Ross and Monica's father on TV's "Friends"
  • Jack Bing
    son of Monica and Chandler on "Friends"
  • Jack Plumb
    character in novel "The Nest"
  • Jack
    pseudonym of the Narrator in book/film "Fight Club"
  • Jack Bell
    character in film The Thin Red Line
  • Jack Burton
    character in film Big Trouble in Little China
  • Jack Brooks
    character in film Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
  • Jack Campbell
    character from the film The Family Man
  • Jack Crawford
    character in book/film The Silence of the Lambs
  • Jack Powell
    character in film "Jack"
  • Jack "Weasel" Hammer
    character in Marvel Universe
  • Jack Hammer and Jack Shipley
    characters in video game 'Ace Attorney'
  • Jack Bristow
    character on TV's "Alias"
  • Jack Carter
    character on "Eureka"
  • John Francis "Jack" Donaghy
    character on "30 Rock"
  • Jack Montgomery
    rugaru on TV's "Supernatural"
  • Jack
    son of Kelly Cline and Lucifer on TV's "Supernatural"
  • Jack Frost
    character in animated movie "Rise of the Guardians"
  • Jack Simpson
    main character in G. A. Henty's, Facing Death
  • Jack Gallo
    character on TV's "Just Shoot Me!"
  • Jack Harkness
    character on TV's "Doctor Who" and "Torchwood"
  • Jack Harper
    main character in film "Oblivion"
  • Jack Hodgins
    character on "Bones"
  • Jack McFarland
    character on TV's "Will and Grace"
  • Jack Malone
    character on TV's "Without a Trace"
  • Jack Morgan
    main character from the "Dragonback" series
  • Jack O'Neill
    character in "Stargate"
  • Jack Sadelstein
    character in movie "Jack and Jill"
  • Jack Shephard
    character on TV's "Lost"
  • Jack Smith
    main character from "The Magic Tree House" book series by Mary Pope Osborne
  • Jack Stanfield
    character of the 2006 film "Firewall"
  • Jack Thompson
    character from TV's "Agent Carter"
  • Jack Trainer
    character of the 1988 film "Working Girl"
  • Jack Tripper
    character on TV's "Three's Company"
  • Jack Twist
    character in book/film Brokeback Mountain
  • Jack Torrance
    character in book/film "The Shining"
  • Jack
    character on children's TV series Jack's Big Music Show
  • Jack
    a main character in the Canadian television series Rusty Rivets
  • Jack
    main character in the animated TV series Samurai Jack
  • Jack
    a front,loader from the TV series Thomas and Friends
  • Jack Bowser
    character on TV's The Electric Company
  • Jack Branning
    character on British soap EastEnders
  • Jack Colero
    one of the main characters in The Nutshack
  • Jack Fenton
    character on animated series Danny Phantom
  • Jack Hackett
    character on TV's Father Ted
  • Jack Landors
    Red SPD Ranger on TV's Power Rangers SPD
  • Jack O'Neill
    main character in the TV series Stargate SG,1
  • Jack Spicer
    character on TV's Xiaolin Showdown
  • Ultraman Jack
    character in tokusatsu series The Return of Ultraman
  • Dr. Jack McAndrew
    character on TV's Red Band Society
  • Jack
    a main character in Ken Follett's "The Pillars of Earth"
  • Jack Daniels
    brother of minor villain Xavier Daniels, in "One Tree Hill"
  • Jack Simon
    Kensi's ex,fiancé in "NCIS: Los Angeles"
  • Jack McDermott
    character on movie "The Dream Team"
  • Jack Zimmermann
    character in webcomic "Check, Please!"
  • Jack Bunch
    character in "The Sims 3" computer game
  • Jack Porter
    character in "The Sims 3" computer game
  • Jack Johnson
    six,year,old character on TV's "Black,ish"
  • Jack Spades
    character in "Colorless"
  • Jack Ryder
    also known as Creeper, character in DC Universe
  • DI Jack Robinson
    character in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
  • Jack Wilder
    character in the movie "Now You See Me"
  • Jack Brewer
    character from Disney XD's "Kickin' It"
  • Jack McPhee
    character from "Dawson's Creek"
  • Jack Noir
    character from webcomic "Homestuck"
  • Jack Ransone
    character from "Sims" series
  • Jack Joshua
    character from "Lethal Weapon"
  • Jack Fairbairn Marrowbone
    character in the movie "Marrowbone"
  • Jack
    also known as Ace, a character from "Are you Alice?"
  • Jack/Subject Zero
    female Character of the Mass Effect video game trilogy
  • Jack Carney
    character in the film "Apartment Zero"
  • Jack 'Soldier: 76' Morrison
    Character from the video game Overwatch Overwatch
  • Jack
    a character from the game "Minecraft: Story Mode , Season 2"
  • Jack Will
    character in R. J. Palacio's "Wonder"
  • Jack Pearson
    main character and father on TV's "This Is Us".
  • Jack Fletcher
    main protagonist in the series " Young Samurai," by Chris Bradford.
  • Jack Cooper
    main character of "Titanfall 2"
  • Jack Dalton
    main character on TV's "MacGyver"
  • Jack Griffin
    the main character on NBC's television series "A.P. Bio."
  • Jack Ransom
    character in the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks
  • Jack Fuller
    Jr, character in the 2008 film "What Happens in Vegas" played by Ashton Kutcher
  • John James "Jack" McCoy
    character on TV show "Law and Order"
  • "Jack and Sarah
    " 1995 film
  • Hit the Road Jack
    song written by Percy Mayfield
  • "Jumping Jack Flash
    " song by the Rolling Stones
  • "Jack and Diane
    " song by John Cougar Mellencamp
  • "Jack Slade
    " 1952 western thriller
  • Jack and the Beanstalk
    fairy tale
  • "Jack and Jill
    " a nursery rhyme
  • "Jack Be Nimble
    " a nursery rhyme
  • "Jack Sprat
    " a nursery rhyme
  • "Little Jack Horner
    " a nursery rhyme
  • "Jack Goes Boating"
    2010 film