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 [ 2 syll. jo-nah, jon-ah ] The boy name Jonah is pronounced as JHOWNah KEY. Jonah is used chiefly in the English, French, Scandinavian, and Spanish languages, and its origin is Hebrew. Biblical name derived from the element 'yonah' meaning dove. Yonah (Hebrew) is an original form of Jonah. The name was borne in the Bible by a prophet who was thrown overboard by his shipmates for disobeying God and thereby causing a storm; he was later swallowed by a whale and delivered to land. The biblical story was very popular in medieval times, and the name was consequently adopted by the English Puritans in the 17th century. Sailors traditionally use the name to personify someone who brings bad luck; the association somewhat diminished the popularity of the name in the past. The name Yonina (English and Hebrew) is the female form of Jonah. Jonah has 11 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Jonah used in English include Jona (used in Hebrew as well) and Jonas (used in Lithuanian, French, German, Greek, Scandinavian, and Spanish as well). Foreign variants of Jonah include Giona (Italian), Guiseppe (Italian), Iona (Russian), Joona (Finnish), Joonas (Finnish), Yona (Russian), Yonah (Hebrew), Yunis (Arabic), and Yunus (Turkish). Jonah is popular as a baby name for boys, and it is also considered trendy. The name's popularity has been growing since the 1960s. Its usage peaked modestly in 2008 with 0.136% of baby boys being given the name Jonah. It ranked at #137 then. Among all boy names in its group, Jonah was the most popular in 2008. Jonah was twice as popular as the subsequent ranked name, Jonas (Lithuanian, English, French, German, Greek, Scandinavian, and Spanish), in that year. Baby names that sound like Jonah include Giona (Italian), Jaason (English), Jachen (Rhaeto-Romanic), Jachym (Czech), Jacin (English), Jackson (English), Jacksyn (English), Jahan (Indian and Iranian), Jaheim (English), Jaimie (English), Jakson (English), Jamaine (English), Jame (English), Jamey (English), Jamie (English and Scottish), Jamin (English), Jaquan (English), Jaquin (English), Jasin (English), and Jasmin (French). KEY: Pronunciation for Jonah: JH as in "gee (JH.IY)" ; OW as in "oat (OW.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
