130 Variations of John - Page 2

Jaxon has been mostly climbing in popularity since it entered the Top 1000 in 1997, proving that many parents have decided to rev up the cool factor of Jackson by giving it this streamlined spelling. (Though we still prefer the original.)

Jaunty, to say the least, Jonty might be an option if Johnny feels too old school. It has been noticed most often on the playing fields, as in U.K. rugby player Jonty Parkin (born Jonathan) and South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes (Jonathon).

In Paris, it's charming, but in America, it's still Jean, as in blue jean. Or Aunt Jean.

Janet started as a pet form of Jane but has long been used independently. Jane is a feminine form of John, which derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan. Janet can also be considered a variation of Jeannette, a derivative of Joan and another feminization of the name John.

Quintessentially common last name makes distinctive if problematic first, given to nearly 100 babies in the US in the most recent year counted.

A Top 100 name from the 1930s all the way through the 1950s, it's now firmly in Mom -- or Grandma -- land and supplanted for babies by Joanna.....or even great-grandmother Josephine. In its heyday, it had a host of variations, including JoAnn and Jo-Anne.

Though familiar to all via such childhood icons as Hans Brinker, Hans(el) and Gretel, and Hans Christian Andersen, few Americans have chosen this name for their sons because of its intractably Old Country image.

One of the best known of the Irish girls' names, thanks to singer Sinead O'Connor. Though it's still in the Irish Top 100, it's no longer quite as fashionable in Ireland as Aoife or Aisling. But by now everyone in the Western World knows it's pronounced shin-aid and so would have no trouble fitting in on an American playground.

Yannick originated as a diminutive of Yann, the Breton form of John. However, it has since become popular as a standalone name in its native region of Brittany, as well as in France as a whole, where it peaked at #31 in 1973-4. It remains well within the Top 500 in France to this day, and has also seen regular use in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Quebec.

Regal and ancient feeling, Jacques has been declining in popularity in its native France, but in the UK, it saw a surprising revival in 2022. Jumping from somewhere around the #2500 mark straight to #600, it was seven times more popular than in 2021.

Streamlined version of the classic boys' names, sometimes a short form of Jonathan, which is in fact an entirely different name from John attached to a different Biblical personage. Jon feels more modern than the traditional John, but some may find it an overly slight variation on an already slim name. Jon Snow is a popular character on HBO's Game of Thrones.

Shawn is a phonetic spelling of Sean that may be past its peak – it was a Top 30 name in the early 1970s – but is still quite popular for boys: over 500 baby boys were named Shawn in the US in the most recent year counted vs 800 given the original Sean spelling.

Juan, the Spanish version of John, is ubiquitous in the Spanish-speaking world, and is familiar internationally via such references as Don Juan and San Juan.

Gianni, the Italian equivalent of Johnny, sounds more substantial and fresh. Like many names starting with "Gian", it is on a rising trend (for both boys and girls, though it leans more male). TV star Jill Hennessey's son is named Gianni Mastropietro.

An Old World name that might have a chance to rise again with other ancient and worldly forms. Be sure to say yo-HAHN-es.

The surname name Jenson is in the British Top 100 thanks to champion race car driver Jenson Button. Jenson might be an honorific for an ancestral John, the English form of Jens or Johannes, or even Jen.

Anglicized form of Seònaid, the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Janet. It has historically been quite popular in Scotland, although it hasn't ranked in the Top 100 there since 1995.

A standard form of John in Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Slovene, German, and Catalan. Properly pronounced yahn (in most of these languages), most Americans will still equate it with the Brady Bunchesque girls' name Jan.

For a minute or two this sounded more modern than Janet, now equally outmoded.

Pronounced just like Jean in the English-speaking world, but as the more unusual zhahn in France, this has sailed away with the first wave of French favorites: Denise, Michelle, et soeurs.