Jabez
He causes pain or sorrow in Hebrew.
Name Census estimates that about 1,072 living Americans carry the first name Jabez. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jabez today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jabez births was 2002 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jabez. 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 Jabez with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 319,734 Americans
Peak year
2002
102 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,989
Tracked since 1880
Census
Jabez in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 975 people with the first name Jabez, which placed it at #12,678 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
#12,678
National first-name rank
People counted
975
975 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jabez
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jabez is Black at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and White (18.1%). 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 Jabez 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 Jabez at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.6% · 415
- Hispanic or Latino18.4% · 179
- White18.1% · 176
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.1% · 147
- Two or more races5.6% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Popularity
Jabez: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jabez from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 549 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
Jabez 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 Jabez during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jabez' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Florida, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Jabez, while Washington, Louisiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jabez
The name Jabez has its origins in the Hebrew language, with its earliest known use dating back to biblical times. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "ya'atz," which means "to cause pain" or "to grieve." It is believed to have originated as a name given to children in ancient Hebrew culture to express the pain or struggle endured during their birth or as a reminder of the suffering of life.
The name Jabez finds its first recorded mention in the Bible, specifically in the Book of 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. Here, Jabez is described as a man who was "more honorable than his brothers," and his mother named him Jabez because "she bore him in pain." The biblical passage relates a prayer uttered by Jabez, in which he asks God to bless him and enlarge his territory, and it is said that God granted his request.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Jabez was Jabez Bunting (1779-1858), an English Methodist minister and theologian who played a significant role in the leadership of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in the 19th century. Another notable Jabez was Jabez Curry (1761-1825), an American Baptist minister and educator who served as the second president of the University of Georgia.
In the literary realm, Jabez Oliphant (1545-1642) was an English poet and translator during the Elizabethan era, known for his translation of Virgil's Aeneid into English verse. Additionally, Jabez Hughes (1685-1731), a Welsh Baptist minister and author, wrote several notable works on religious topics in the early 18th century.
Lastly, Jabez Hogg (1817-1899) was an English dentist and author who made significant contributions to the field of dental surgery and wrote several influential books on the subject in the 19th century.
While the name Jabez is not as common today as it once was, its biblical roots and historical significance have left an indelible mark on the annals of various cultures and disciplines throughout history.
People
Jabez + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jabez 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
Jabez: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jabez?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,072 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jabez 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 319,734 US residents.
Is Jabez a common name?
We classify Jabez as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jabez most popular?
The single biggest year for Jabez was 2002, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jabez is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jabez in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 975 people with the name Jabez, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,678 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 Jabez 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 Jabez?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jabez leans strongly male. 949 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 29 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Jabez?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jabez is Black at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.4%) and White (18.1%). 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 Jabez most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jabez in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.6% (415 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 Jabez in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jabez a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jabez 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 Jabez still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jabez 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 Jabez 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 are named Jabez?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.