Jackson Name Meaning

When it comes to trends, Jackson hits them all thanks to his surname style and popular J- start. An English name meaning “son of Jack,” Jackson has risen from relative obscurity to dominating the charts in a few short years.

Originally a surname, Jackson has been seen in the White House, battlefield, and stage thanks to President Andrew Jackson, general Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, and the famed Jackson family of musicians. Surname names are all the rage as seen in Brady, Carter, and Davis. The trend is likely to stick as the practice has a posh feel along with the potential to honor names lost through marriage.

The name hits the mark as an unexpected place name, as Jackson, Wyoming is a sleepy town tucked in the mountain scenery. Place names have been a favorite as seen in Bronx, Cairo, and Cyprus. Jackson can also be a subtle nod to the arts, as painter Jackson Pollock put American abstract on the map.

Jackson has the in-demand nicknames of Jack and Jax, two monikers that have been gaining attention yet may seem incomplete to some parents. The name also has alternative spellings like Jaxon and Jaxson for parents looking to step outside the box. The name has seen a boost in popularity thanks to celebrity baby naming and the brooding outlaw Jackson “Jax” Teller on the FX hit Sons of Anarchy.

Infographic of Jackson name meaning, which is Originally an English surname, Jackson means son of Jack.
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Jackson Name Popularity

How popular is the name Jackson? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 352 21 0.006%
1911 488 11 0.003%
1912 507 28 0.0056%
1913 460 49 0.0086%
1914 397 103 0.0148%
1915 401 141 0.0155%
1916 424 130 0.0135%
1917 384 172 0.0172%
1918 400 175 0.0163%
1919 393 187 0.0179%
1920 404 179 0.0161%
1921 392 205 0.0179%
1922 398 191 0.0171%
1923 362 228 0.0204%
1924 405 189 0.0163%
1925 387 202 0.0179%
1926 391 187 0.017%
1927 440 159 0.0144%
1928 369 212 0.0198%
1929 412 169 0.0163%
1930 403 171 0.0164%
1931 419 142 0.0144%
1932 469 111 0.0112%
1933 440 116 0.0125%
1934 415 139 0.0144%
1935 439 124 0.0128%
1936 457 112 0.0116%
1937 460 113 0.0115%
1938 477 108 0.0105%
1939 459 112 0.011%
1940 468 112 0.0105%
1941 450 130 0.0116%
1942 464 137 0.0108%
1943 427 169 0.0129%
1944 472 125 0.0101%
1945 500 107 0.0088%
1946 472 140 0.0095%
1947 491 145 0.0087%
1948 524 116 0.0073%
1949 547 110 0.0068%
1950 516 129 0.008%
1951 550 112 0.0066%
1952 585 99 0.0057%
1953 645 81 0.0046%
1954 702 65 0.0036%
1955 654 83 0.0045%
1956 709 67 0.0035%
1957 690 75 0.0039%
1958 712 66 0.0035%
1959 751 60 0.0032%
1960 732 68 0.0036%
1961 908 33 0.0017%
1962 835 41 0.0022%
1963 760 58 0.0032%
1964 708 75 0.0043%
1965 740 57 0.0035%
1966 839 37 0.0024%
1967 795 44 0.0029%
1968 728 60 0.004%
1969 889 35 0.0023%
1970 799 61 0.0038%
1971 794 60 0.004%
1972 828 52 0.0038%
1973 726 76 0.0059%
1974 772 66 0.0051%
1975 739 75 0.0058%
1976 654 109 0.0085%
1977 596 150 0.0111%
1978 611 136 0.0101%
1979 540 202 0.0143%
1980 518 224 0.0153%
1981 498 238 0.0162%
1982 528 215 0.0144%
1983 535 197 0.0133%
1984 571 172 0.0116%
1985 522 233 0.0154%
1986 511 251 0.0166%
1987 483 297 0.0195%
1988 463 339 0.0218%
1989 423 448 0.0278%
1990 317 758 0.0457%
1991 238 1,161 0.0712%
1992 222 1,340 0.084%
1993 198 1,514 0.0971%
1994 166 1,926 0.1255%
1995 161 2,155 0.143%
1996 136 2,629 0.1756%
1997 124 3,123 0.2112%
1998 100 3,856 0.2576%
1999 83 4,990 0.3332%
2000 72 5,903 0.3864%
2001 60 6,829 0.4532%
2002 50 8,152 0.544%
2003 52 8,712 0.5727%
2004 48 8,977 0.589%
2005 44 9,579 0.6265%
2006 35 10,892 0.6956%
2007 33 11,660 0.739%
2008 32 11,636 0.7529%
2009 26 12,115 0.8106%
2010 25 11,817 0.82%
2011 23 12,395 0.87%
2012 21 12,483 0.876%
2013 16 12,585 0.8839%
2014 17 12,210 0.838%
2015 17 12,258 0.8425%
2016 17 11,262 0.7811%
2017 20 10,356 0.742%
2018 17 10,323 0.7514%
2019 17 10,102 0.7462%
2020 17 8,892 0.6986%
2021 14 9,197 0.7524%
2022 23 7,933 0.6013%

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Alabama (AL)

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Arizona (AZ)

California (CA)

Colorado (CO)

Connecticut (CT)

District of Columbia (DC)

Delaware (DE)

Florida (FL)

Georgia (GA)

Hawaii (HI)

Iowa (IA)

Idaho (ID)

Illinois (IL)

Indiana (IN)

Kansas (KS)

Kentucky (KY)

Louisiana (LA)

Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

Nevada (NV)

New York (NY)

Ohio (OH)

Oklahoma (OK)

Oregon (OR)

Pennsylvania (PA)

Rhode Island (RI)

South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)

Tennessee (TN)

Texas (TX)

Utah (UT)

Virginia (VA)

Vermont (VT)

Washington (WA)

Wisconsin (WI)

West Virginia (WV)

Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.


Names Like Jackson

If you like Jackson, you’ll love these other names like Jackson.


What names are diminutives of Jackson?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Jackson sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Jackson, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Jack

God is gracious

English

Jackie

Son of Jack; he who supplants; God is gracious

Hebrew

Jacky

Son of Jack; he who supplants; God is gracious

Hebrew

Jax

Son of Jack

English


What names are variants of Jackson?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Jackson.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Jacksen

Son of Jack

English

Jacksyn
Jacson

Son of Jack

English

Jakson

Son of Jack

English

Jaxen

Son of Jack

English

Jaxon

Son of Jack

English

Jaxson

Son of Jack

English


What names sound like Jackson?

If you like how Jackson sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Jackson.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Faxon

Hair

English

Jackman

God is gracious

English

Jackopa

Six

Native American

Macsen

Variant of Maximus. Meaning Higher in Excellence" or ""Greater in Excellence""."""

Welsh

Paxon

Poecc's settlement

English

Saxon

From Saxonny

German


What names are similar to Jackson?

Find a name that’s like Jackson, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aaron

High mountain

Hebrew

Aiden

Little fire

Irish

Avery

Elf counsel

English

Carter

Cart user

English

Cooper

Barrel maker

English

Logan

Small hollow

Scottish

Mason

Stoneworker

English

Oliver

Olive tree

English

Ryan

Little king

Irish

Wyatt

Brave in battle

English


Lists With Jackson

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Jackson.


Siblings of Jackson

Mamas with kids named Jackson also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Lucas

From Lucania

Latin

Aubrey

Elf ruler

English

Baileigh

Berry clearing; bailiff; city fortification

English

Kennedy

Helmeted head

Irish

Charlotte

Free man

French

Addison

Son of Adam

English

Paityn

Form of Peyton

English

Sara

Princess

Hebrew

Richard

Brave ruler

German

Ada

Noble one

German

Brayden

Son of Bradan

Irish

31 Comments

  1. My husband liked Jackson and I liked Gabriel so we went with Jackson Gabriel

  2. Jackson is the name of my 3times great grandfather. He is the happiest boy in the world. He can already crawl, pull himself up and cruise furniture.

  3. It’s my husband grandpas name. I love how it has meaning behind it. Jackson is a warrior because he had to go through a surgery when he was 2 days old

  4. We chose the name Jackson after Grandpa Jack passed away. We love it because it reminds us of a great man and also has so many nicknames.

  5. It was daddy’s friends name in school and when I first heard it I was like omg that’s what I wanna name him

  6. i get those dreams when i am on the zaza. They are wet.

  7. I have 4 girls and had accepted that it wasn’t in my cards to have a boy. Even thought ew what if it’s a boy. One morning I woke up and KNEW him while still waiting to find out the gender and I knew he was gonna be Jackson

    • E leai se sao, e te oti. O le a maua oe e le puao. E te le malamalama i le mea ua e faia. E moni le kulimi.

  8. My older Son loves Michael Jackson. I let him choose the name.

    • If he loves Michael Jackson soooo much then he might be one of those kids that turns black to white or white to black

  9. Named after the character Jackson on Greys Anatomy

  10. We found his name on line cuz he was our frist baby and we liked it alot so we choose that one

  11. Jack was my father’s father’s name and Rae (middle name) is my middle name my father’s middle name and my mother’s father’s middle name.

  12. The name came to me in a dream.

  13. We chose Jackson because of it’s significance to us. He was named after a Godly man that my husband and I admire. I wanted to have a name that had a significant meaning to us, and when we found Jackson on a baby name list, there was no question that would be his name.

  14. We chose Jackson for a couple of reasons, 1: It’s my maiden name! thought it was adorable and unusual. 2: My husband is John, and his pet name is Jack, and Jackson means “SON OF JACK!” I thought it was perfect my husband thought it was a bit on point but, it grew on him. Jacksons’ middle name is Oliver. Jackson Oliver sounds so great.

  15. I think Jackson is a very strong name for my strong little boy. It also symbolizes a gift and he was my precious little surprise gift!

  16. I like the name, I don’t know anyone by Jackson and it rings with Jackson Paul. I like the base Jack and son brings it together ? ?

  17. Versatile and manly name. We like to use “Jax” as a nickname. Also one of the few names on my list that my husband didn’t hate. 🙂

  18. We had a hard time choosing a boy name. A lot of them sounded like dog names to us. (Max, Bentley, Cooper…) We narrowed it down and ended up going with Jackson because it was one of the few names we both liked that we also really liked all the nicknames associated with it.

  19. Jackson Colby Coggins Jr. He is a name sake making my husband a Sr.

  20. I am the maternal grandmother. My daughter and SIL wanted to name the baby after THEIR maternal grandfather’s (baby’s great grandfathers). They both loved the name Jackson…strong and modern, without being hokie, as many names are today. Everyone in the family loves it!

  21. My son Jackson Wesley was named after both of his grandfathers, Jack and Wesley David

  22. Sons of Anarchy’s Jackson Teller inspired my little Jackson Wayne, though as often as we call him Jax, mostly we all call him Bubby!

  23. Jackson just pops to me! Nickname is Jack or Jack Jack I love it.its strong yet cool to me .

  24. I felt that the name rhymed perfectly with Jameson (my first son) and it too, was a strong name

  25. Jackson is named after the town that my great great grandfather settled in after leaving Ireland (Jacksonport). My family still has a cabin on the original property. It is my favorite place and has come to mean a lot to my husband as well. I think rootedness and freedom are connected and I hope Jackson knows both.

  26. We loved the name Jackson before it became popular. We call him Jack every once and awhile and love the traditional spelling. However be prepared to always be asked spelling on it because of how common Jaxon is these days and know your kid will be called “Jax” every once and while so you’ll have to correct it.

  27. I named him Jackson because I had a dream years before being pregnant with him that my husband was praying a blessing over a little boy (of his/ours) named Jackson. Fast forward to being pregnant with Jackson and house hunting, I told my husband I wanted to name our baby boy Jackson after having my dream. We found our dream home and we made a low offer on the house. My husband said if the sellers accepted the offer we would name our son Jackson (which means “the Lord has shown favor”). The sellers accepted!

  28. I named my son Jackson because his dad’s middle name is Jack and a lot of men on his mom side all have Jack somewhere in their name. And I refuse to name him a junior

  29. I’ve wanted to name my son Jack since I was 3 years old. However, my married last name is Cole. Jack Cole wasn’t exactly the best, and thought it could be easily strewed and made fun of. So we went with Jackson instead. I really love it! We can call him Jack or Jackson and I think it is a strong name.


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