NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Jonny

A masculine diminutive of John, derived from the Hebrew name meaning "God is gracious".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Jonny is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Jonny popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #2443, with 9 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2004, with 72 births.

This profile covers 700 England and Wales registrations across 28 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 13% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 718 living people in the UK are called Jonny. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Jonny ranked #2443 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 9 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2004, when 72 boys were registered as Jonny.
  • Jonny ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #255 in 2007.
  • About 718 living people in the UK are estimated to have Jonny as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#2443

2024

Births in 2024

9

Latest year

Peak year

2004

72 births

Estimated living

718

2026

Meaning

What does Jonny mean?

The name Jonny has its origins in Hebrew and is derived from the name Yohanan, which means "Graced by God" or "God is gracious." It is a variation of the more common English name John, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan.

In the New Testament of the Bible, John the Baptist is one of the earliest and most prominent figures to bear this name. He was a Jewish preacher who baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River and is considered an important religious figure in Christianity.

During the Middle Ages, the name John was widespread throughout Europe and was popularized by several prominent figures, including John the Evangelist, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, and Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963.

In the 12th century, the name Jonny appeared as a diminutive form of John in England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jonny can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of a survey of England completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror.

Notable historical figures with the name Jonny include Jonny Bairstow, an English cricketer born in 1989, Jonny Wilkinson, an English rugby union player born in 1979, Jonny Greenwood, an English musician and composer born in 1971, Jonny Lee Miller, an English-American actor born in 1972, and Jonny Quest, the fictional protagonist of the 1960s animated series of the same name.

Throughout history, the name Jonny has been a popular choice for boys, with its origins rooted in Hebrew and its widespread use across various cultures and time periods. Its association with religious figures, as well as its diminutive form of the more common name John, has contributed to its enduring popularity.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Jonny over time

The chart below shows babies named Jonny registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Jonny, the clearest high point is 2004. The latest England and Wales figure is 9 births in 2024, compared with 72 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Jonny
018365472199620102024

Decades

Jonny by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Jonny was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #1693 74 5
2010s #1030 283 10
2000s #962 330 10
1990s #2364 13 3

Geography

Where Jonny is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Jonny. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Jonny ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #255 in 2007.

Northern Ireland
6
Scotland
4

Across the UK

Jonny in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#609 in 2019

5 years of NRS records, 17 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#255 in 2007

1 years of NISRA records, 6 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Jonny

  • Jonny O'Mara

    tennis player

    tennis player from the United Kingdom

    1995-

  • Jonny Maddison

    association football player

    English association football player (born 1994)

    1994-

  • Jonny Maxted

    association football player

    English association football player (born 1993)

    1993-

  • Jonny Labey

    actor; stage actor; television actor

    British actor

    1993-

  • Jonny Williams

    association football player

    Welsh association footballer

    1993-

  • Jonny Murphy

    rugby union player

    rugby player

    1992-

  • Jonny Lomax

    rugby league player

    English rugby league footballer

    1990-

  • Jonny May

    rugby union player

    English rugby union footballer

    1990-

Related

Names similar to Jonny

FAQ

Jonny: questions and answers

How popular is the name Jonny in the UK right now?

In 2024, Jonny was ranked #2443 for boys in England and Wales, with 9 births registered.

When was Jonny most popular?

The peak year on record was 2004, with 72 babies registered as Jonny in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Jonny?

A masculine diminutive of John, derived from the Hebrew name meaning "God is gracious".

How many people are called Jonny in the UK?

A total of 700 babies have been registered as Jonny across the 28 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 17 more in Scotland and 6 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Jonny most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Jonny ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #255 in 2007. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.