Jachai
A male name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will revive" or "he will live".
Name Census estimates that about 364 living Americans carry the first name Jachai. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Jachai today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jachai births was 1997 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jachai. 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
364
~ 1 in 941,633 Americans
Peak year
1997
63 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,589
Tracked since 1996
Census
Jachai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 245 people with the first name Jachai, which placed it at #33,672 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
#33,672
National first-name rank
People counted
245
245 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jachai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jachai is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.2%) 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 Jachai 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 Jachai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.1% · 179
- Two or more races12.2% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino9.4% · 23
- White2.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Jachai
Jachai leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jachai as a male name
- Ranked #9,325 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (53 births)
Jachai as a female name
- Ranked #8,589 in 1997
- 10 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1997 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jachai leans strongly male. 227 people counted with this name were male (93.8%), compared with 15 female bearers (6.2%).
Popularity
Jachai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jachai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 146 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jachai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jachai 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 Jachai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jachais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jachai
The name Jachai is of Hebrew origin, tracing its roots back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "chai," meaning "life" or "alive," and is often associated with the phrase "chai vekayam," which means "living and enduring."
This name holds a strong connection to Jewish culture and tradition. In the Torah, the phrase "chai vekayam" is used to express the concept of eternal life and the enduring nature of God's covenant with the Jewish people. The name Jachai, therefore, carries a symbolic significance, representing the idea of vitality, longevity, and the continuity of life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jachai can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a sage named Jachai, who lived during the 2nd century CE and was renowned for his wisdom and teachings. This historical figure's name serves as a testament to the antiquity of the name's usage within Jewish communities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jachai. One prominent example is Jachai ben Shmuel Ha-Kohen, a prominent medieval Jewish philosopher and poet who lived in Spain during the 12th century. His works, which explored themes of ethics, morality, and the human condition, have left an indelible mark on Jewish thought and literature.
Another influential figure was Jachai ben Yosef ibn Akni, a 13th-century Spanish rabbi and scholar known for his contributions to Jewish law and philosophy. His commentaries on the Talmud and other Jewish texts have been widely studied and revered within the Jewish intellectual tradition.
In more recent times, Jachai Rofe, an Israeli author and playwright born in 1933, gained recognition for his literary works that explored the complexities of modern Israeli society and the human experience.
Jachai Politz, a prominent Israeli businessman and philanthropist born in 1927, made significant contributions to various charitable organizations and initiatives, leaving a lasting impact on his community.
The name Jachai has also been carried by artists and musicians, such as Jachai Gerstein, a renowned Israeli painter and sculptor born in 1935, whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
While the name Jachai has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and continues to be used across various communities, carrying with it the symbolic meaning of life, vitality, and endurance.
People
Jachai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jachai 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
Jachai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jachai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jachai 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 941,633 US residents.
Is Jachai a common name?
We classify Jachai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jachai most popular?
The single biggest year for Jachai was 1997, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jachai is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jachai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 245 people with the name Jachai, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,672 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 Jachai 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 Jachai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jachai leans strongly male. 227 people counted with this name were male (93.8%), compared with 15 female bearers (6.2%). 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 Jachai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jachai is Black at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.2%) 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 Jachai most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jachai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (179 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 Jachai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jachai a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Jachai 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 Jachai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jachai 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 Jachai 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 Jachai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.