Jack

Meaning: God is gracious
Origin: English (from Hebrew) — Variant of John

Nicknames: Jackie

Boy's name · #15 in the US (2025) · Comeback

Popularity over time

Jack was #14 in 1929, slipped to #179 by 1989, and has climbed back to #15 today. Roughly 757,000 boys have been named Jack since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Jack is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Jack is especially popular in Ireland, N. Ireland, and Australia (VIC).

#2 in Ireland (2025) · #2 in N. Ireland (2025) · #8 in Australia (VIC) (2025) · #8 in New Zealand (2025) · #10 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #13 in Scotland (2025) · #15 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #24 in England & Wales (2025) · #48 in Sweden (2025) · #52 in Netherlands (2025) · #66 in Belgium (2025) · #300 in Ecuador (2025) and 5 more.

Famous Jacks

Jack London — American author, journalist and social activist (1876–1916)
Jack Nicholson — American actor and filmmaker (born 1937)
Jack Kerouac — American writer (1922–1969)
Jack Ma — Chinese businessman
Jack Black — American actor, comedian, singer, musician and producer (born 1969)

In stories & tradition

Captain Jack Sparrow — Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
Jack Shephard — Lost (TV series)
Jack O'Neill — Stargate SG-1 (TV series)

What Jacks become

Among 8,438 notable people named Jack:

Sports figures appear 2.44× more often than among typical names — e.g. Jack Wilshere, English association football player (born 1992).

Twin names

A popular twin pairing with Jack is Emma for a girl.

Spellings & nicknames

About 57 boys a year are given Jackie as their full name.

Similar names: John · Levi · Jace · Benjamin · Isaac · Owen

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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