Ja
A feminine variant of the Arabic name Zain, meaning "beauty" or "grace".
Name Census estimates that about 417 living Americans carry the first name Ja. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Ja today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ja births was 2000 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ja. 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
417
~ 1 in 821,953 Americans
Peak year
2000
29 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,323
Tracked since 1957
Gender
Gender distribution for Ja
Ja is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 435 total registrations, 299 (68.7%) were male and 136 (31.3%) were female.
Ja as a male name
- Ranked #9,323 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (20 births)
Ja as a female name
- Ranked #18,719 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2000 (14 births)
Popularity
Ja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ja from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 125 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ja 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 Ja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ja
The name Ja has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "jaya," which means victory or triumph.
In Hindu mythology, Ja is often associated with the god Vishnu, one of the principal deities of the Hindu trinity. The name appears in various ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, where it is used as a suffix or a prefix in the names of Hindu gods and goddesses.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ja can be found in the Mahabharata, the famous Indian epic from the 8th century BC. The epic includes the name Jayadratha, which means "the one who controls victory."
Throughout history, the name Ja has been borne by several notable figures. One of the most famous was Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-1979), an Indian independence activist and political leader who played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
Another prominent figure was Jayadeva (12th century), an Indian poet and Sanskrit scholar best known for his poetic composition Gitagovinda, which describes the love between Krishna and Radha.
In the realm of Islamic history, Ja'far al-Sadiq (702-765) was an influential Muslim scholar and the sixth Imam in Shia Islam. His name, which means "the truthful one," is derived from the Arabic word "sadiq."
Moving to ancient Egypt, the name Ja appears in the form of Jahi or Jah, which was a common name for Egyptian pharaohs and nobility. One example is Amenhotep III (1388-1351 BC), whose name means "Amun is satisfied."
In modern times, the name Ja has been used in various cultures and languages, often carrying similar meanings of victory, triumph, or strength. However, its historical roots can be traced back to the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu traditions of India.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ja
People
Ja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ja as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 417 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ja 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 821,953 US residents.
Is Ja a common name?
We classify Ja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 435 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ja most popular?
The single biggest year for Ja was 2000, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ja is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ja a male name?
Yes, 68.7% of people registered as Ja in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.