Jock
Jock is a Scottish diminutive form of the forename "John"; It is also a nickname for someone of Scottish origin, as well as being the collective name for Scottish soldiers, collectively known as "the Jocks". It corresponds to Jack in England and Wales. In London the rhyming slang "sweaty" is used, deriving from "Sweaty sock - Jock".
- Scottish
Meaning & Origin of Jock
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Jock is a Scottish diminutive form of the forename "John"; It is also a nickname for someone of Scottish origin, as well as being the collective name for Scottish soldiers, collectively known as "the Jocks". It corresponds to Jack in England and Wales. In London the rhyming slang "sweaty" is used, deriving from "Sweaty sock - Jock".
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Scottish
The Story of Jock
Jock first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1916, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1957: 46 births, good for #1,130 nationwide. About 26% of every Jock on record arrived during the 1950s, its defining decade. Jock last appeared in the published SSA data in 2009, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 1K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Jock
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Jock. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Jock
Phonetically similar names — useful when Jock is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jock
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About the name Jock
Jock is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1916 and has accumulated 1K births in the dataset. Jock's peak popularity came in 1957 when it ranked #1,130. Use the chart and map above to compare Jock's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1957 →
- Names of the 1950s →
- Names starting with "J" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.