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 [ 1 syll. jac(k), ja-ck ] The boy name Jack is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. Its pronunciation is JHAEK KEY. Jack is largely used in the English and Dutch languages, and its origin is English and Hebrew. The name developed as a diminutive of the medieval name John, which had a diminutive Johnkin (Middle English) that became Jankin (Middle English) from the West Country accent. This developed into Jackin (Middle English) before being shortened to Jack. In medieval times, the name was widely used, and it became a slang word meaning 'man'. It is well-known as the archetypal folk hero in many nursery rhymes and fairy tales such as 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Jack Sprat', and 'Little Jack Horner'. It has also been used to refer to real or mythical characters of otherwise unknown names, such as the 19th-century persons, the murderer Jack the Ripper and the high-jumping demon Spring Heeled Jack who became the protagonist of many Victorian penny dreadfuls and plays. The name has also been taken as an informal diminutive of James, due to its similarity in sound to Jacques, the French form of James; otherwise, the relation is not etymologically justified. Jake (English), Jock (Scottish and English), and Seoc (Scottish) are variants of Jack. In addition, Jack is a Dutch and English pet form of the name Jacob (Dutch, English, German, and Scandinavian). Jack is also a short form of the name Jackson (English). Jack is also a pet form of the name John (English). Other variants of Jack include the pet forms Jacki (English), Jackie (English), Jacky (English), Jockey (English), Jockie (Scottish), and Jocky (Scottish). See also the related forms, Jay (English), Keaka (Hawaiian), and James (English). Jack is very popular as a baby name for boys, and it is also considered fairly trendy. At the height of its usage in 1927, 1.101% of baby boys were given the name Jack. It ranked at #16 then. The baby name has since experienced a substantial loss in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.455% and its ranking #39, enjoying a minor resurgence in the recent decade. Within the group of boy names directly linked to Jack, Jacob (Dutch, English, German, and Scandinavian) was the most commonly used. In 2008, the name was twice as popular as Jack. Jack has mostly been a boy name in the past century. In 1933, the name Jack was given to 189 times as many boys than girls. Baby names that sound like Jack include Jace (English), Jae (English and Indian), Jai (Indian), Jake (English), Jay (English), Jaye (English and Indian), Jeks (Latvian), Jelle (Dutch), Jess (English), Jey (English), Jeye (English), Ji (Chinese), Jie (Chinese), Jo (English, Dutch, German, and Japanese), Joash (English), Jock (Scottish and English), Joe (English and French), Joos (Dutch), Josh (English), and Joze (Slavic). Details of famous persons named Jack: KEY: Pronunciation for Jack: JH as in "gee (JH.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)"   |
