Jonas
Meaning of Jonas
Jonas, most accurately traced to the Greek Ἰωνᾶς and ultimately to the Hebrew יוֹנָה (Yonah) signifying “dove,” enters English usage via the Latin Vulgate and retains an understated, scholarly resonance; in contemporary Anglo-American settings it is pronounced JOH-nəs, while the Germanic YO-nahs variant underscores its pan-European reach. The biblical bearer—prophet of the Book of Jonah—confers on the name themes of reluctant mission and redemption, yet modern cultural memory equally recalls figures such as Dr. Jonas Salk, whose polio vaccine marked a milestone in public-health history, thereby tethering the name to innovation and civic beneficence. United States birth-record statistics reveal a long-horizon stability rather than meteoric fashionability: from a late-nineteenth-century baseline within the national top 200 it receded gradually, then, beginning in the 1970s, resumed a modest ascent that peaked at rank 266 in 2008 before settling near the 450-mark in recent years. This tempered popularity, coupled with its cross-linguistic familiarity and succinct, vowel-forward phonetics, renders Jonas a strategically balanced choice for parents seeking a biblically rooted, internationally intelligible, yet comparatively under-selected masculine given name.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as JOH-nuhs (/ˈdʒoʊnəs/)
German
- Pronunced as YO-nahs (/ˈjoːnas/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Jonas
| Jonas Edward Salk was an American virologist who developed the first successful polio vaccine. |
| Jonas Valančiūnas is a Lithuanian NBA player currently with the Denver Nuggets, drafted fifth overall in 2011 after playing for several other teams. |
| Jonas Savimbi was an Angolan revolutionary leader who founded UNITA and led it in wars against colonial rule and the MPLA government until his death in 2002. |
| Jonas Mekas was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker celebrated as the godfather of American avant-garde cinema, who co-founded Anthology Film Archives and served as the first film critic for The Village Voice. |
| Jonas Myrin is a Grammy-winning Swedish singer, songwriter, and producer known for his collaborations with artists like Barbra Streisand and his multiple award wins. |
| Jonas Wood is a contemporary artist from Los Angeles. |
| Jonas Jerebko is a Swedish basketball player who spent 10 seasons in the NBA with four teams after being drafted 39th overall in 2009. |
| Swedish tennis legend Jonas Björkman reached world No. 1 in doubles and No. 4 in singles. |
| Jonas Phillips was a German immigrant who fought in the American Revolution and worked as a merchant, founding the Jewish Phillips family in the United States. |
| Jonas Hanway was an English philanthropist and writer, known as the first male Londoner to carry an umbrella and a noted opponent of tea drinking. |
| Jonas Gray is a former NFL running back best known for his standout 2014 game with the New England Patriots. |
| Jonas Biliūnas was a Lithuanian writer and poet who significantly contributed to Lithuania's national awakening in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
| Jonas Galusha served two terms as the sixth and eighth governor of Vermont in the early 19th century. |
| Jonas Erikson Sundahl was a Swedish-born architect renowned for his Baroque designs in Zweibrücken, Germany. |
| Jonas Goštautas - Jonas Gostautas was a Lithuanian nobleman who served as Chancellor and was a trusted advisor to Casimir IV Jagiellon before he became King of Poland. |
