Jacquilyn
A feminine name of French origin meaning "daughter of jack".
Name Census estimates that about 304 living Americans carry the first name Jacquilyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jacquilyn today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jacquilyn births was 1991 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jacquilyn. 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
304
~ 1 in 1,127,481 Americans
Peak year
1991
21 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2006 SSA rank
#18,259
Tracked since 1929
Census
Jacquilyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 398 people with the first name Jacquilyn, which placed it at #24,271 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
#24,271
National first-name rank
People counted
398
398 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jacquilyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacquilyn is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.3% · 268
- Black or African American10.6% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 25
- Two or more races4.8% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Jacquilyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jacquilyn from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 119 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jacquilyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jacquilyn
The name Jacquilyn is a feminine given name derived from the French masculine name Jacques, which is the French form of the name Jacob. Jacob is a Hebrew name meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows." The name Jacques gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages, and various feminine forms of the name emerged, including Jacqueline, Jacquelyn, and Jacquilyn.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jacquilyn can be traced back to the late 19th century and early 20th century in English-speaking countries. It is a relatively modern variant of the more traditional Jacqueline, with the addition of the letter "y" at the end. This spelling variation likely emerged as a way to create a unique and distinctive version of the name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of a person named Jacquilyn is Jacquilyn Anne Hart, an American actress and singer born in 1937. She had a notable career on stage, television, and in films throughout the mid-20th century.
Another early bearer of the name was Jacquilyn Faye Isbill, an American actress and dancer born in 1941. She is best known for her role as the younger sister in the popular television series "Father Knows Best" during the 1950s.
In the literary world, Jacquilyn Arish was an American writer and poet born in 1943. She published several collections of poetry and was recognized for her contributions to contemporary American literature.
Jacquilyn Nache, born in 1946, was a Canadian tennis player who represented her country in international competitions during the 1960s and 1970s. She achieved notable success in both singles and doubles tournaments.
Jacquilyn Pegler was an American artist and sculptor born in 1948. Her works were exhibited in numerous galleries and museums throughout the United States, and she was celebrated for her innovative use of materials and techniques.
While the name Jacquilyn has its roots in the French language and was influenced by the long-standing tradition of Jacques and its feminine counterparts, it emerged as a distinct name in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite its relatively recent origins, the name has been borne by individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields, including entertainment, literature, sports, and the arts.
People
Jacquilyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jacquilyn 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
Jacquilyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jacquilyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 304 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jacquilyn 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 1,127,481 US residents.
Is Jacquilyn a common name?
We classify Jacquilyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 342 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jacquilyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jacquilyn was 1991, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jacquilyn is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jacquilyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 398 people with the name Jacquilyn, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,271 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 Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jacquilyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 401 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jacquilyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacquilyn is White at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Jacquilyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jacquilyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (268 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 Jacquilyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jacquilyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn 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 Jacquilyn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.