The Jonas Brothers; Image via Wikipedia
Jonah swam the seas in the belly of a whale, while today’s choice rode the wave to the top of the tweenage hit list.
Thanks to Anna for suggesting Jonas as our Baby Name of the Day.
Jonas has been quietly in use for ages. He has appeared in the US rankings every year since 1880, though he’s never been very popular. In 1880, he ranked #323, and he came in at an almost chilly #455 in 2010. We can all think of a few men named Jonas – Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine – comes to mind.
The name is sometimes interpreted as a variant of John, but mostly he’s seen as a spin on the faithful Jonah. The original form of the name would’ve been Yona or Yonah, from the Hebrew for dove.
In the Old Testament Book of Jonah, he was a prophet fleeing from his duties. He caught a ride across the ocean on a ship, and when the ship was waylaid by a storm, the story of Jonah’s deception came out. He was tossed overboard and swallowed by a fish – we usually interpret the fish as a whale. Despite the odds, he escaped unscathed – on the shores of Nineveh, the city he was supposed to visit in the first place. The story has long been popular, and the name was one of many discovered by Protestant parents during the Reformation. Jonas appears early on, too, from the Greek version of the name. In some languages, Jonah is dominant; in others, it is all about Jonas. Both can be found in use in English.
Jonah has been in the US Top 200 since 1999, boosted by other Biblical boys like Noah, plus that ever-favorite first letter J of Jack and Jameson. Ends-in-S names, like Silas, as in vogue, too. Jonas should be rising. He’s been in the Norwegian Top Ten
In fact, Jonas was inching up the charts. Lois Lowry’s award-winning novel The Giver featured a hero called Jonas. The book’s 1992 publication seems to have prompted parents to re-discover the name. By 2002, Jonas was back in the US Top 500, and still rising.
At the same time, three brothers were launching their careers in the entertainment biz. Nick Jonas was performing on Broadway and trying to launch a singing career, but it was a recording of Nick accompanied by older brothers Kevin and Joe that caught the attention of a producer.
The trio is more Hanson than N’Sync – they’re not exactly a manufactured boy band. But they are heartthrob teen idol types, thanks to their path to stardom – a guest spot on the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, followed by a starring role in Disney flick Camp Rock and sequel.
Grammy award nominations aside, the Jonas Brothers’ success has not helped their surname catch on. When they first appeared alongside Miss Montana in 2007, Jonas ranked #329. The year Camp Rock made them famous, Jonas rose to #274.
But then the boys were everywhere – lunch boxes and tee shirts and the radio. It isn’t that parents stopped considering Jonas. Instead, the mega-success of the boy band gave them pause. He still appears on short lists, but the best description of the tension can be found in a Namipedia entry:
- “No one will care about the Jonas Brothers in a few years, so I’m using the name anyway!”
“It’s currently an untenable naming option thanks to the insufferable boy band The Jonas Brothers.”
The truth is somewhere in between. Jonas is a great name, on trend and yet with a backstory that gives him some real substance. But lots of names can claim that – names that aren’t shared by a trio of cute boys.
My issue with the name Jonas comes by way of Dickens. In the author’s _Martin Chuzzlewit_ Jonas features as the murderous, wife-abusing villain, spectacularly portrayed by a slimy Keith Allen (father of Lily Allen) in the 1994 BBC production. Now whenever I hear the name Jonas I think of Allen’s portrayal and cringe.
We named our son Jonas in 2007, and yes, we got his name from “The Giver”, one of the few books both my husband and I loved. If only we’d known what was coming….:p
He just turned 4, and people have finally stopped asking if he was named after the band.
Oh dear! Still, it is a lovely name, and the Lois Lowry association is almost certainly far more enduring.
I do like Jonas – and Nineveh for a girl, actually! I also like Jonah/Jona for a girl too. Addiionally, I’d name my son Jonas just for the Weezer song.
I believe the German surname Jonas does come from John (well, Johann), while Jonas the first name is from the Greek form of Jonah as you say — so as an English speaker, especially one in that lovely cultural mixing pot of America, you could run with the meaning you prefer!
Never heard of the boy band . . . Friends (who live in France) have boys named Jonas and Mathis. i think that is such a great “sibset”!
Jonas is a handsome name … and seriously how much longer can the Jonas Brothers last? I mean they’re old enough to grow beards now.
I think of the lovely minister Jonas who married Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) college friend Phillipa – even though he was poor and “ugly”, the pretty and wealthy Phil could not resist her Jo!
Hmmm, I’d forgotten about Montgomery’s Jonas. He’s certainly a more sympathetic character than Dickens’ is.
I really dont like Jonas, but I do like Jonah, its softer and more appealing.
Jonas is on my favorites list! With images of the Jonas brothers everywhere I completely forgot about Jonas/ Jo in Anne of Green Gables! Thanks ‘Waltzing’ for another reason to love it! Also, I think the Jonas brothers craze has already died down a good bit, so that doesn’t bother me anymore.
Jonas makes me pause, I too think of Dickens first & foremost. but Jonah, I love. So soft & friendly. Those Jonas brothers scare me.
I met brothers Jonah and Noah yesterday, a bit too similar for me. I prefer Jonah to Jonas though.
That is close! There is a family in my ‘hood with five boys, all with Biblical names, and I kind of think that includes a Noah and a Jonah … but in a group of five, it isn’t so obvious.
It’s a fresher sounding name than Joseph or Jordan, but it seems like the kind of name that already WAS popular — long before it hit the scene.
I like Jonas in English, but the Scandinavian/German pronunciation is ugly …YO-nuss. Too close to Eunice.
Jonas is definitely on my long list of favorite boys names…while the Jonas Brother’s association makes me pause, I know that in twenty years or so they will more than likely be forgotten…or at least they won’t be the first thought that comes to mind.
Or who knows? Maybe they’ll be inducted into the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame, and their bio will begin “They were dismissed as little more than a fleeting boy band …” I still do a double take every time I see Mark Wahlberg in a serious role, so it could happen!
I like Jonas a lot actually. The Giver was one of my favorite books, so that’s my first thought. The Jonas Brothers don’t really give me pause, but then I’ve never heard one of their songs anyway.
I’ve got Jonas on one of my long lists, as a Biblical S-ender to “go” with Moses and Silas
My aunt just used Jonas for one of her twin boys as a middle name. Jonas isn’t a name I would use but I do like it. It’s sturdy, masculine, and I like the Southern vibe it has. The Jonas Brothers connection doesn’t phase me a bit. They were mega popular a few years ago but are very much out of the spotlight now.
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Just started following your blog and saw you had covered Jonah a while back but missed this post somehow! I have a Jonas who turned a year old last month. I’ve loved the name since I was a girl and read the book ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry. I also liked that it’s a top 10 name in Germany right now (my mom’s family is German) and has the not-so-overt Biblical connection. I’ve only ever had two people mention the Jonas Brother connection, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. When we he was born and we started telling everyone his name, people only had good things to say about it.