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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Jo

Jo was the 4028th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 36 babies. Its best year was 1947, when it ranked 51st; the most babies were born in 1954 (8,052). Over the last ten years it has moved up 1,015 places. More babies were named Jo in the 1950s than in any other decade.

Meaning short form of Joan, Josephine and others · English, Hebrew

Say it JOH /dʒoʊ/

Rank in 2025
#4,028 girls, up 20 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
36girls
Girls and boys
87% girls, 13% boys2021–2025
Peak year
19548,052 babies
Total since 1880
180,911babies recorded

What does the name Jo mean?

Jo is a short form of girls' names beginning with Jo-, chiefly Joan and Joanna but also Josephine and Jolene, as Wiktionary notes; for boys it is a variant of Joe (Joseph). Joan and Joanna go back to Hebrew Yoḥanan 'YHWH is gracious', and Joseph to Yosef 'he will add'. Jo March, the heroine of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868), is a famous bearer.

יוֹחָנָן (Yoḥanan) (Biblical Hebrew, “YHWH is gracious”)

How sure is this? Well established.

Related names: Joan, Joanna, Josephine, Joe, Jody.

See also: English names.

Sources for this meaning

Jo popularity since 1880

02.5k5k7.5k10k 1900192019401960198020002020
GirlsBoys Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.
YearRank (girls)Rank (boys)Babies (girls)Babies (boys)
2025#4,028#9,273368
2020#4,048#9,098358
2010#15,876#10,17467
2000#4,870#5,1662414
1990#1,725#7,579856
1980#540#2,78634917
1970#272#1,6761,10327
1960#134#1,2463,37140
1950#64#1,3035,67631
1940#72#1,4193,42723
1930#131#1,2061,87135
1920#444#1,52823125
1910#676—40—
1900#753—24—
1890#1,146—7—
1880————

How popular is Jo, counting every spelling?

Jo has no other common spelling that sounds the same.

How many kids will share the name Jo?

36 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Jo (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Jo born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 233 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Jo.

Chance of another Jo in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025
Most likely inTexasunder 1 in 50 (2024)

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Jo?

About 111,000 people born in the US named Jo are alive today, with a median age of 72; half are between 67 and 78. That makes Jo a name most people associate with older generations.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Jo by state

How common Jo was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. In 49 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: fewer than 5 a yearME–Wisconsin: fewer than 5 a yearWI–Vermont: fewer than 5 a yearVT–New Hampshire: fewer than 5 a yearNH–Washington: fewer than 5 a yearWA–Idaho: fewer than 5 a yearID–Montana: fewer than 5 a yearMT–North Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearND–Minnesota: fewer than 5 a yearMN–Illinois: fewer than 5 a yearIL–Michigan: fewer than 5 a yearMI–New York: fewer than 5 a yearNY–Massachusetts: fewer than 5 a yearMA–Oregon: fewer than 5 a yearOR–Nevada: fewer than 5 a yearNV–Wyoming: fewer than 5 a yearWY–South Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearSD–Iowa: fewer than 5 a yearIA–Indiana: fewer than 5 a yearIN–Ohio: fewer than 5 a yearOH–Pennsylvania: fewer than 5 a yearPA–New Jersey: fewer than 5 a yearNJ–Connecticut: fewer than 5 a yearCT–Rhode Island: fewer than 5 a yearRI–California: 0.01 per 1,000 babiesCA0.01Utah: fewer than 5 a yearUT–Colorado: fewer than 5 a yearCO–Nebraska: fewer than 5 a yearNE–Missouri: fewer than 5 a yearMO–Kentucky: fewer than 5 a yearKY–West Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearWV–Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearVA–Maryland: fewer than 5 a yearMD–Delaware: fewer than 5 a yearDE–Arizona: fewer than 5 a yearAZ–New Mexico: fewer than 5 a yearNM–Kansas: fewer than 5 a yearKS–Arkansas: fewer than 5 a yearAR–Tennessee: fewer than 5 a yearTN–North Carolina: fewer than 5 a yearNC–South Carolina: fewer than 5 a yearSC–District of Columbia: fewer than 5 a yearDC–Oklahoma: fewer than 5 a yearOK–Louisiana: fewer than 5 a yearLA–Mississippi: fewer than 5 a yearMS–Alabama: fewer than 5 a yearAL–Georgia: fewer than 5 a yearGA–Hawaii: fewer than 5 a yearHI–Texas: 0.03 per 1,000 babiesTX0.03Florida: fewer than 5 a yearFL–
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Jo, girls, 2021–2025. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Jo: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Jo, they share its era and feel.

Middle names for Jo · Sibling names for Jo

Jo is also a nickname for Josephine, Josie, Joanna, Jocelyn, Jolene, Johanna, Joelle and Joan.

Questions about the name Jo

What does Jo mean?

Jo means “short form of Joan, Josephine and others” (English, Hebrew origin). Certainty: well established.

How popular is the name Jo?

Jo was the 4028th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 36 babies. Its best year was 1947, when it ranked 51st; the most babies were born in 1954 (8,052). Over the last ten years it has moved up 1,015 places. More babies were named Jo in the 1950s than in any other decade.

Is Jo a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, 87% girls, 13% boys given the name Jo in the US.

Where is Jo most popular?

In 2021–2025, Jo was most common in Texas (0.03 per 1,000 girls), followed by California and California.