Jad
Of Arabic origin, meaning "luck" or "fortune".
Name Census estimates that about 3,632 living Americans carry the first name Jad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jad today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jad births was 2020 (218 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jad. 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 Jad with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jad is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 94,371 Americans
Peak year
2020
218 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,347
Tracked since 1968
Census
Jad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,995 people with the first name Jad, which placed it at #5,648 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
#5,648
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,995 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jad is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Jad 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 Jad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 2,633
- Two or more races4.0% · 120
- Black or African American3.0% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 88
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Popularity
Jad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jad from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,572 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jad 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 Jad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Jad, while Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 116 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jad
The name Jad is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "jadda," meaning "to be serious or diligent." It is believed to have first appeared in the 7th century, during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
The name Jad is closely associated with the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It can be found in various ancient texts and historical records from the region, including religious scriptures and chronicles of the early Islamic era.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jad can be found in the writings of the renowned Arab historian and scholar, Ibn Ishaq (704-768 CE). He mentioned a companion of the Prophet Muhammad named Jad ibn Qays, who was known for his bravery and devotion to the Islamic faith.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jad. One of the most famous was Jad ibn Dirham (699-723 CE), a theologian and philosopher from Khurasan (modern-day Iran and Afghanistan). His teachings on the nature of God and the human soul were widely debated and influenced the development of Islamic theology.
Another prominent figure was Jad al-Haqq (1017-1089 CE), a renowned Sufi mystic and poet from Ghazni (modern-day Afghanistan). His poetic works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the divine, are considered among the finest examples of Persian literature from the medieval period.
In the 12th century, Jad al-Rumi (1165-1240 CE), a renowned Sufi mystic and scholar, was born in Khwarezm (modern-day Uzbekistan). He is best known for his extensive writings on Islamic mysticism and his influential work, "Masnavi," which is considered a masterpiece of Persian poetry.
During the Mamluk era in Egypt, Jad al-Din al-Pasha (1292-1354 CE) was a prominent military commander and governor. He played a crucial role in the defense of Egypt against various invasions and is remembered for his strategic leadership and administrative skills.
It is worth noting that while the name Jad has deep historical roots in the Arab and Islamic worlds, it has also been adopted and used in various cultures and regions over time, reflecting the cultural exchange and influence that have occurred throughout history.
People
Jad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jad 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
Jad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,632 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jad 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 94,371 US residents.
Is Jad a common name?
We classify Jad as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,678 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jad most popular?
The single biggest year for Jad was 2020, when 218 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jad is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,995 people with the name Jad, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,648 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 Jad 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 Jad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jad leans strongly male. 2,896 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 96 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Jad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jad is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Jad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (2,633 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 Jad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jad 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 Jad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jad 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 Jad 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 have Jad as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jad, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.