MEANING & HISTORY
What does Jordan mean?
Jordan is a personal name taken from the River Jordan. The river name comes from Hebrew Yarden, commonly connected with descending or flowing down.
Christian naming has long associated the river with baptism. Modern namesakes can influence family choices, but the name predates any contemporary athlete. The river formation is the secure account rather than one presumed individual inspiration.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
English
- /ˈd͡ʒɔːdən/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈd͡ʒoːdən/Australia · British · New-Zealand · Southern · Standard
- /ˈd͡ʒɔɹdən/General-American
- /ˈd͡ʒɝdən/Southern-US
- /ˈd͡ʒɝdn̩/Southern-US
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
CebuanoEtymology & source
From Latin Iordanes, from Ancient Greek Ἰορδάνης (Iordánēs), from Biblical Hebrew יַרְדֵּן (yardén, “Jordan (river)”). The given name is from Michael Jordan.
a male given name from English
Wiktionary: Jordan (Cebuano) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Latin Iordanēs, from Ancient Greek Ἰορδάνης (Iordánēs), from Biblical Hebrew יַרְדֵּן (yardén, “Jordan (river)”). Doublet of Yarden. The area in Hong Kong is named after Jordan station, which is named after Jordan Road, which in turn is named after Sir John Jordan.
A unisex given name from Hebrew.; A male given name from Hebrew; in the Middle Ages given to children baptized with Jordan water brought by crusaders.; A female given name from Hebrew, of mid-20th century and later usage.
Wiktionary: Jordan (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Jordan
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Jordan Clarkson
American-Filipino basketball player (born 1992)
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Jordan Heading
Filipino-Australian basketball player
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
4
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
3
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Jordan Clarkson, Jordan Heading
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Jordan in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Jordan
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Joan♀English form of Joanna; God is gracious
- Johan♂God is gracious; a John-family form
- Jovan·Serbian and Macedonian John-name form
- Adan♂Unaccented form of Adán or Adam; man
- Adán♂Man or humankind, linked with earth in Genesis
- Aidan♂Little fire
- Dan♂He judged; also a familiar form of Daniel
- Dandan♂Repeated familiar form of Daniel or Roldan
What rhymes with Jordan?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Jordan further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q14021944 — Jordan (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Jordan Clarkson (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q14021944 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Jordan Heading (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q14021944 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Jordan (Cebuano) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Jordan (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Jordan (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.
- Behind the Name: jordan (opens in a new tab)
Independent source-name account consulted for formation and any qualifications.