Recorded 1881–2025 · United States
Jo was most popular in 1954, when 8,077 American babies were given the name — ranking #103 that year. In 2025 it ranked #6,099, with 44 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 180,911 people named Jo.
Jo first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1881, which makes it about 144 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 144 of the 145 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 180,911 American births named Jo between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 116,725 are estimated to be alive today.
44 American babies were named Jo in 2025, ranking #6,099 that year.
Jo is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 45 births a year, against 23 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +94% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Jo is a girl’s name — 99.0% of the 180,911 Americans given it were girls and 1.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 87% girls and 13% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 116,725 Americans named Jo are alive today — 65% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 72 years old, and half are between 67 and 79. That is a narrow band: Jo arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Hebrew · short form of Josephine or Joanne
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Jo on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org