Jonathan

Jonathan died with his father at the battle of Mount Gilboa around 1010 BCE, and David”s lament over him in 2 Samuel 1 contains some of the oldest preserved Hebrew poetry.

In medieval Christianity the name was rare, but it was embraced by English Puritans in the seventeenth century and became a staple of New England nomenclature.

Literary stature comes from Jonathan Swift”s Gulliver”s Travels (1726) and from the children”s classic Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (1970), which sold over a million copies in its first year.

Jonathan Harker is the protagonist of Bram Stoker”s Dracula (1897).

The character of Jonathan Strange in Susanna Clarke”s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004) refreshed the name for the fantasy generation. Brother Jonathan was, before Uncle Sam, the personification of the United States.

According to US Social Security Administration records, Jonathan ranked outside the top 100 throughout the nineteenth century but climbed dramatically after 1960, reaching its peak at rank 15 in 1988.

It remained in the top 50 for two decades and held position 105 in 2023. Adoption is broad and ecumenical, with particular strength in Hispanic communities, where it functions as a cross-language choice.

Contemporary bearers include novelist Jonathan Franzen, late-night host Jonathan Ross, actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Olympic skier Jonathan Otto Edwards.