Genine
Feminine variation of the name Gene meaning "well-born, of noble birth".
Name Census estimates that about 469 living Americans carry the first name Genine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Genine today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Genine births was 1970 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Genine. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
469
~ 1 in 730,819 Americans
Peak year
1970
36 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1994 SSA rank
#14,180
Tracked since 1942
Census
Genine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 536 people with the first name Genine, which placed it at #19,637 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#19,637
National first-name rank
People counted
536
536 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Genine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Genine is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Genine described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Genine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.6% · 314
- Black or African American24.6% · 132
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 53
- Two or more races3.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Genine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Genine from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 195 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Genine by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Genine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Genines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Genine, while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Genine
The name Genine is a variant of the French feminine name Geneviève, which is derived from the Breton name Gwenog. The Breton name Gwenog is a compound of the elements "gwen" meaning "fair, white" and "oc" meaning "supreme." The name Geneviève was popularized by the 5th-century Saint Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Genine dates back to the late 19th century. One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Genine Isenberg, a German actress born in 1895 who appeared in several silent films in the 1920s. Another early bearer of the name was Genine de Lonval, a French author and poet born in 1906.
In the early 20th century, the name Genine gained some popularity in the United States. One of the first notable American bearers of the name was Genine Graham, an actress born in 1910 who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. Another American bearer of the name was Genine Rusk, a philanthropist and socialite born in 1922, who was actively involved in various charitable organizations.
A more recent notable bearer of the name Genine was Genine Courtney, an American fashion designer and entrepreneur born in 1956. She founded the successful clothing line Genine Courtney Designs, which was popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
Other notable individuals named Genine include Genine Ecker, a German actress born in 1953, and Genine Comer, an American author and journalist born in 1959.
While the name Genine has its roots in the French and Breton languages, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, particularly in Europe and North America. Despite its long history, the name Genine remains relatively uncommon, but its unique sound and connection to the revered Saint Geneviève have contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Genine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Genine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Genine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Genine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 469 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Genine going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 730,819 US residents.
Is Genine a common name?
We classify Genine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 552 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Genine most popular?
The single biggest year for Genine was 1970, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Genine is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Genine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 536 people with the name Genine, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,637 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Genine in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Genine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Genine leans strongly female. 526 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Genine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Genine is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (9.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Genine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Genine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (314 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Genine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Genine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Genine in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Genine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Genine in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Genine can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Genine?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.