List of Presidents of The United States By Name - Name Origins

Name Origins

# President Name origin
44 Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Named after his father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.
43 George Walker Bush Named after his father, Former President George Herbert Walker Bush
42 William Jefferson Clinton Originally named William Jefferson Blythe III, after his biological father, William Jefferson Blythe, Jr., a businessman, who died in an accident three months before his birth, and his biological grandfather, William Jefferson Blythe, Sr., a farmer, who died of age-related causes 11 years before his birth, he took the surname 'Clinton' when his mother remarried Roger Clinton, Sr.. He was the third posthumously born U.S. President, after Andrew Jackson and Rutherford B. Hayes
41 George Herbert Walker Bush Named after his maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker
40 Ronald Wilson Reagan Wilson was his mother’s maiden name
39 James Earl Carter, Jr. Named after his father, James Earl Carter, Sr.
38 Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. Originally named after his biological father, Leslie Lynch King, Sr. and renamed at the age of two by his adopted father Gerald Rudolff Ford.
37 Richard Milhous Nixon Named after Richard the Lionheart; Milhous was his mother’s maiden name
36 Lyndon Baines Johnson Named after W.C. Linden, a lawyer and family friend, Baines was his mother’s maiden name
35 John Fitzgerald Kennedy Named after his maternal grandfather, John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald
34 Dwight David Eisenhower Originally named David Dwight Eisenhower after his father, David Jacob Eisenhower
33 Harry S. Truman Named after his maternal uncle, Harrison Young; the middle initial represents both "Shippe", after his paternal grandfather, Anderson Shippe Truman; and "Solomon", after his maternal grandfather, Solomon Young. It is generally accepted that the exact name which is abbreviated is undetermined, so that in effect the 'S' stood for nothing but S. Truman's "full name" could be regarded as "Harry S Truman" (without the period), but he did not sign his name that way. Examination of official papers at the Truman Presidential Library reveal that the S. is generally written with a period.
32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt After being nameless for seven weeks, he was named after his great-uncle, Franklin Hughes Delano
31 Herbert Clark Hoover Clark was his father’s middle name
30 Calvin Coolidge Originally named John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. after his father
29 Warren Gamaliel Harding Named after his great-uncle, Rev. Warren Gamaliel Bancroft
28 Woodrow Wilson Originally named Thomas Woodrow Wilson after his maternal grandfather, Rev. Thomas Woodrow
27 William Howard Taft Howard was the last name of his paternal grandmother, Sylvia Howard
26 Theodore Roosevelt Originally named Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. after his father
25 William McKinley Originally named William McKinley, Jr. after his father
23 Benjamin Harrison While he was the eighth Benjamin Harrison in his family, he was primarily named after his paternal uncle, Dr. Benjamin Harrison VII, and his paternal great-grandfather Benjamin Harrison V
22/24 Grover Cleveland Originally named Stephen Grover Cleveland after Rev. Stephen Grover
21 Chester Alan Arthur Named after Dr. Chester Abell, the physician who delivered him, and his paternal grandfather, Alan Arthur
20 James Abram Garfield Named after his deceased infant brother, James, and his father Abram Garfield
19 Rutherford Birchard Hayes Named after his father, Rutherford Hayes, Sr. Birchard was his mother’s maiden name
18 Ulysses Simpson Grant About a month after birth, he was originally named Hiram Ulysses Grant, Hiram was his maternal grandfather and Ulysses a Greek hero from mythology. He informally went by his middle name. When enrolling at West Point, congressional sponsor accidentally wrote his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant; Simpson was his mother’s maiden name. The school would not allow Grant to enroll by any other name than that which his sponsor had filled out, so Grant went along with the change. Furthermore, Grant was pleased with the change because he had disliked the fact that his original initials spelled "HUG."
17 Andrew Johnson Either named after Andrew Jackson or a maternal uncle
16 Abraham Lincoln Named after his paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, Sr.
15 James Buchanan Named after his father, James Buchanan, Sr.
14 Franklin Pierce Unknown
13 Millard Fillmore Millard was his mother’s maiden name
12 Zachary Taylor Named after his paternal grandfather, Zachary Taylor, Sr.
11 James Knox Polk Named after his maternal grandfather, James Knox
10 John Tyler Named after his father, John Tyler, Sr.
9 William Henry Harrison Named after his maternal grandfather, William Bassett and paternal uncle, Henry Harrison
8 Martin Van Buren Named after his paternal grandfather, Martin Van Buren, Sr.
7 Andrew Jackson Named after his father, Andrew Jackson, Sr., who died in an accident three weeks before his birth
6 John Quincy Adams Named after his maternal great-grandfather, John Quincy, after whom Quincy, Massachusetts, is also named, his father former President John Adams, Jr. and grandfather John Adams, Sr.
5 James Monroe Named after his maternal grandfather, James Jones
4 James Madison Named after his father, James Madison, Sr.
3 Thomas Jefferson Named after his paternal grandfather, Thomas Jefferson II
2 John Adams Named after his father, John Adams, Sr.
1 George Washington Possibly named after George Eskridge, a lawyer who took care of Washington's mother after she was orphaned

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