Colin Jost's Real Name: Colin Kelly Jost

Quick answer: Colin Jost's full name is Colin Kelly Jost, according to Britannica. He was born June 29, 1982, on Staten Island, New York City, and the Library of Congress records the same date and birthplace. He has written for Saturday Night Live since 2005, has co-anchored "Weekend Update" since 2014, and is married to actress Scarlett Johansson (Britannica; LOC).

Real name and early life

Britannica says Jost is the older of two sons of Daniel A. Jost, who taught at Staten Island Technical High School, and Kerry J. Kelly, chief medical officer for the New York City Fire Department. His middle name, Kelly, is also his mother's surname. He grew up on Staten Island and attended Regis High School, a tuition-free Catholic school in Manhattan, commuting about 90 minutes each way by bus, ferry, and subway. He was on the speech and debate team.

He went on to Harvard University, where he studied history and literature, wrote for The Harvard Crimson, and was president of the Harvard Lampoon. Britannica notes that as a freshman he lived in the same dorm as Pete Buttigieg, whom he later played on SNL during Buttigieg's 2020 presidential run. He graduated in 2004.

Career highlights

Jost joined the SNL writing staff in 2005, at 22. He became writing supervisor in 2009 and co-head writer in 2012, a post he held until 2015 and again from 2017 to 2022. In March 2014 he took over the "Weekend Update" desk from Seth Meyers. He was first paired with Cecily Strong, and Michael Che replaced her in September 2014. One of the pair's best-known bits has each reading jokes the other wrote, sight unseen, on live TV. In October 2021 Jost passed Meyers's record for "Weekend Update" appearances.

The LOC record and Britannica credit him with five Writers Guild Awards and say he was part of two Peabody-winning SNL teams. He wrote and appeared in Staten Island Summer (2015) and acted in How to Be Single (2016), Tom & Jerry, and Coming 2 America (both 2021). He co-hosted the 2018 Emmy Awards with Che, hosted the 2024 White House Correspondents' Association dinner, and became host of Pop Culture Jeopardy! in 2024.

In 2020 he published the memoir A Very Punchable Face and married Scarlett Johansson; their son was born in 2021. The couple appeared together in Fly Me to the Moon (2024).

Name notes for searchers

Colin is his first name, Kelly his middle name, and Jost his father's surname. No stage name or legal name change is documented; he has always worked as Colin Jost.