Given name & surname
Junior
“the younger one”
Junior is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “the younger one.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “the younger one.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1882. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Junior through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 43,182
- 42,987 boys · 195 girls
- Most popular year
- 1927
- 1,607 babies
- 2025
- 343
- #752 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +25%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 343 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 752 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 24.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,590 in 1926. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (47). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 26,598 as a first name in 2020; 3,126 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Junior’s family of names
In English usage, Junior has a diminutive in Jun. Junior has a related form in Junier. In English usage, Junior has a short form in Jun.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Junshort form · ceb, English
- Junniorlikely variant
- Juniorrlikely variant
- Jhunjhunclipped form · English
- Jhunclipped form · English
- Junjundiminutive · Tagalog, ceb
- Juniervariant
- Junyervariant
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Junior
- Castello LukebaFrench footballer (born 2002)
- Junior AgogoGhanaian association football player (1979-2019)
- Júnior AlonsoParaguayan association football playerborn 1993
- Junior MessiasBrazilian footballer (born 1991)
- Junior FernandesChilean association football playerborn 1988
- Junior KabanangaDemocratic Republic of the Congo footballerborn 1989
- Junior dos SantosBrazilian mixed martial artistborn 1984
- Junior DurkinAmerican actor (1915–1935)
- Junior Dina EbimbeCameroonian association football player (born 2000)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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