Gennie
A diminutive form of Genevieve, derived from the Germanic words meaning "kin" and "woman".
Name Census estimates that about 980 living Americans carry the first name Gennie. It is a predominantly female name (92.7% of registrations). The average person named Gennie today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gennie births was 1928 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gennie. 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
980
~ 1 in 349,749 Americans
Peak year
1928
55 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1960 SSA rank
#4,249
Tracked since 1884
Census
Gennie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,122 people with the first name Gennie, which placed it at #11,421 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
#11,421
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,122 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gennie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gennie is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Gennie 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 Gennie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.7% · 502
- Black or African American36.6% · 411
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 57
- Two or more races3.1% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Gennie
Gennie leans heavily female at 92.7% of total registrations, but 199 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gennie as a male name
- Ranked #4,249 in 1960
- 5 male births in 1960
- Peak: 1924 (13 births)
Gennie as a female name
- Ranked #16,326 in 2002
- 5 female births in 2002
- Peak: 1928 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gennie leans strongly female. 1,059 people counted with this name were female (94.2%), compared with 65 male bearers (5.8%).
Popularity
Gennie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gennie from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 482 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gennie 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 Gennie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gennies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Gennie, while Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 86 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gennie
The name Gennie is believed to have its origins in the Greek language, derived from the root word "gennao," which means "to beget" or "to bring forth." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with fertility or new life in ancient Greek culture.
During the Byzantine era, the name Gennie appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, often used as a diminutive form of the name Eugenia. Eugenia itself was a popular name among Greek Christians, meaning "well-born" or "of noble birth."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gennie can be found in the writings of the 4th-century Greek philosopher and theologian, St. Gregory of Nazianzus. He mentioned a woman named Gennie in one of his letters, describing her as a devout Christian and a close friend.
In the Middle Ages, the name Gennie gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and parts of the Balkans. During this time, it was often associated with the veneration of St. Eugenia, a Christian martyr from the 3rd century.
Notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Gennie include Gennie Pilcher (1890-1962), an American stage and film actress, and Gennie Summers (1942-2020), a British pop singer and actress known for her work in the 1960s.
Another famous Gennie was Gennie Ferrie (1919-1992), a Scottish singer and actress who performed in various stage productions and films throughout the mid-20th century. She was particularly renowned for her roles in several classic British comedies.
In the world of literature, Gennie Wilfer was a character in Charles Dickens' novel "Our Mutual Friend," published in 1865. Her name was a diminutive form of Eugenia, reflecting the Victorian era's fondness for using shortened or endearing versions of traditional names.
Another notable figure was Gennie Dexter (1855-1932), an American educator and suffragist who played a significant role in the women's rights movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She worked tirelessly to promote educational opportunities for women and advocated for their right to vote.
People
Gennie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gennie 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
Gennie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gennie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 980 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gennie 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 349,749 US residents.
Is Gennie a common name?
We classify Gennie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,740 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gennie most popular?
The single biggest year for Gennie was 1928, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gennie is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gennie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,122 people with the name Gennie, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,421 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 Gennie 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 Gennie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gennie leans strongly female. 1,059 people counted with this name were female (94.2%), compared with 65 male bearers (5.8%). 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 Gennie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gennie is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Hispanic (9.4%). 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 Gennie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gennie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (502 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 Gennie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gennie a female name?
Yes, 92.7% of people registered as Gennie 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 Gennie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gennie 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 Gennie 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 Americans are named Gennie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.