`J´ Names That I Like - Girls & Boys

Probably due to its nursery rhyme association, Jill has the perpetual air of a rosy-cheeked tot -- even though it is one of the oldest names on the roster, a medieval variation on the Roman Julia. The pairing of Jack and Jill to connote a generic boy and girl goes back at least to the fifteenth century. But can knowing Jill's history keep it from sounding like a cute mid-twentieth century invention? There may be some possibility of Jill making it back up the hill.

Johanna is the version of this name used in Holland, Germany, and Scandinavia. The extra h makes Johanna a slightly more dignified version of Joanna.

While Jadon is the authentic biblical name, Jaden is by far the more popular spelling, first noticed when Will and Jada Pinkett Smith used it for their now grown (and famous) son. It has since swept the country for both sexes, with a wide variety of spellings and rhyming cousins.

Jared is an Old Testament name that has been popular for decades--it was revived in the sixties via TV westerns-- and is still an appealing option.

Jagger is a swaggering Rolling Stone of a name that's been picked up by a number of fellow celebs, including Lindsay Davenport and Brett Scallions--while Soleil Moon Frye pulled a gender switch when she bestowed it on her daughter. It's edgy with a touch of danger.

Judd is a strong but sensitive short form that can easily stand on its own, the second 'd' giving it a lot more substance, and it would also be a good middle name choice. Two recent actors have given it credence--Judd Nelson and Judd Hirsch, and now it's most noticeably represented by comedy director Judd Apatow.

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.

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.

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.)

Jolie is as pretty as its literal meaning; nowadays it is also seen as a girls’ name, via Angelina for whom Jolie was originally her middle name.

Joe is still the ultimate good-guy name, not at all diminished by its longevity or popularity or its everyman rep as Regular Joe, Cowboy Joe, G.I. Joe, Joe Exotic, Joe Blow, Joe Millionaire, Average Joe — and now President Joe (Biden).

A simple and streamlined Biblical name, Joah borne by several figures in the Old Testament. Meaning "Yahweh is his brother" or "brother of God", it could be an unexpected way to honor a family Joe or an alternative to the popular Noah, Josiah, and Jonah.

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.

Jacoby, a surname spin on Jacob shot up the charts in the middle of the 2000's, thanks largely to the popularity of Jacoby Ellsbury, the first Native American of Navajo descent in the Major Leagues, but has been dropping steadily since it peaked at Number 423 in 2008. As of 2022, it dropped out of the US Top 1000 and is given to around 170 boys each year.

This spelling of Jillian is now much more popular than the original, maybe because the G version invites pronunciation problems.

At the height of the Jennifer craze, many parents were cutting straight to the nickname and putting Jenny on the birth certificate. But now that Jennifer is the mom rather than the daughter, Jenny, which has been somewhat replaced by Jenna, has faded as well.

The ultimate midcentury nickname, retaining a good measure of retro charm, was chosen for her son by Mira Sorvino.

Justice, one of the rare virtue names for boys, entered the popularity ranks in 1992, and has remained on the list ever since. Parents' search for names implying virtue has led to a mini-revival of this long-neglected name in both its German homonymic form, Justus, and as the word itself. Steven Seagal was ahead of the curve when he used it back in 1976.

Peaked in the 1940s, but still an amiable classic, a la Joe and Tom -- though rarely used on its own.

Jessie has never been used as much as Jennie/Jenny, partly because it's a boys’ name as well (spelled Jesse), but it does have a friendly and unpretentious pioneer feel. In Scotland, it's found as an Anglicized form of Teasagh, itself a form of Jean, and is used as a full name. And in the rest of the world, Jessie may be short for Jessica or used on its own.