Jabe
A short form of Jacob, a Hebrew masculine name meaning "supplanter".
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Jabe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jabe today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jabe births was 1983 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jabe. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jabe with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
1983
12 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2011 SSA rank
#9,080
Tracked since 1884
Census
Jabe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 390 people with the first name Jabe, which placed it at #24,620 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
#24,620
National first-name rank
People counted
390
390 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jabe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jabe is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Black (11.0%). 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 Jabe 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 Jabe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 266
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 44
- Black or African American11.0% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 20
- Two or more races3.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 5
Popularity
Jabe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jabe from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 69 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
Jabe 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 Jabe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jabe
The name Jabe is a relatively uncommon one, with its origins shrouded in mystery. It is believed to have emerged from the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East, possibly derived from the Hebrew word "yabeh," meaning "to be dry" or "to wither."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jabe can be traced back to the biblical figure Jabe-El, a minor character mentioned in the Book of Genesis. He was a descendant of the Ishmaelites, a nomadic tribe that inhabited the Arabian Desert during ancient times.
In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Jabe was Jabe al-Baghdadi, an Islamic scholar and mathematician from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the field of algebra and authored several treatises on the subject.
During the Renaissance period, a Venetian explorer named Jabe Cabotto (1497-1557) gained recognition for his voyages to the Americas. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the coast of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
In the 19th century, Jabe Tomes (1804-1888) was a prominent English dentist and author. He wrote several influential works on dental anatomy and pathology, which helped advance the field of dentistry.
Another notable figure was Jabe Bowers (1828-1908), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California in the late 19th century. He played a crucial role in shaping the state's early political landscape.
While the name Jabe has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these individuals have left their mark in various fields, ranging from religion and academia to exploration and politics, showcasing the diversity of those who have borne this unique name.
People
Jabe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jabe 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
Jabe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jabe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jabe 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Jabe a common name?
We classify Jabe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 242 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jabe most popular?
The single biggest year for Jabe was 1983, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jabe is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jabe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 390 people with the name Jabe, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,620 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 Jabe 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 Jabe?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jabe on both sides of the split. Of the 392 people counted with this name, 295 were male (75.3%) and 97 were female (24.7%). 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 Jabe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jabe is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Black (11.0%). 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 Jabe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jabe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (266 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 Jabe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jabe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jabe 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.
Is Jabe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jabe 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 Jabe 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 Jabe?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.