Jackalyn
Feminine variant of name Jack meaning "God is gracious", of Hebrew origin.
Name Census estimates that about 517 living Americans carry the first name Jackalyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jackalyn today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jackalyn births was 2006 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jackalyn. 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
517
~ 1 in 662,968 Americans
Peak year
2006
22 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,634
Tracked since 1942
Census
Jackalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 563 people with the first name Jackalyn, which placed it at #18,985 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
#18,985
National first-name rank
People counted
563
563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jackalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jackalyn is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.4% · 385
- Hispanic or Latino18.3% · 103
- Black or African American7.5% · 42
- Two or more races3.4% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
Popularity
Jackalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jackalyn from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 141 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
Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jackalyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jackalyn
The name Jackalyn is a feminine given name derived from the English name Jack, which itself originated from the Hebrew name Jacob or Jacques in French. The name Jack emerged as a diminutive form of Jacob, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows."
The roots of the name Jackalyn can be traced back to the medieval period when the name Jack became popular in England. It was often used as a generic term for a commoner or a man of humble origins. Over time, the name Jack evolved into various feminine forms, including Jacqueline, Jaqueline, and eventually, Jackalyn.
While the name Jackalyn does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the name Jacob ties it to the biblical figure of the same name, who was one of the patriarchs of the Israelites.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jackalyn dates back to the late 19th century. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until the mid-20th century when it became a common variant of the more traditional name Jacqueline.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jackalyn. One such person was Jackalyn H. Brodhead (1915-2006), an American educator and academic administrator who served as the first female president of the University of Hartford from 1975 to 1983.
Another prominent figure was Jackalyn Beatrice Sherrilyn Kenyon (born 1965), an American writer best known for her popular fantasy and paranormal romance novels, including the Dark-Hunter series.
Jackalyn H. Groom (1933-2012) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, from 1970 to 1976, becoming one of the first women to hold a mayoral position in a major Canadian city.
Jackalyn O'Shaughnessy (born 1975) is an American professional golfer who has won multiple tournaments on the LPGA Tour and represented the United States in the Solheim Cup.
Jackalyn Smith (born 1947) is an American actress best known for her role as Kelly Garrett in the popular television series "Charlie's Angels" from 1976 to 1981.
People
Jackalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jackalyn 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
Jackalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jackalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 517 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jackalyn 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 662,968 US residents.
Is Jackalyn a common name?
We classify Jackalyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jackalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jackalyn was 2006, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jackalyn is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jackalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 563 people with the name Jackalyn, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,985 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 Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jackalyn leans strongly female. 558 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Jackalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jackalyn is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Jackalyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jackalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (385 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 Jackalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jackalyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn 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 Jackalyn?
You can see how many Americans are named Jackalyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.