Jaeger
Hunter or huntsman, derived from the German word for hunter.
Name Census estimates that about 811 living Americans carry the first name Jaeger. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jaeger today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaeger births was 2002 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaeger. 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 Jaeger with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
811
~ 1 in 422,632 Americans
Peak year
2002
47 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,465
Tracked since 1993
Census
Jaeger in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 736 people with the first name Jaeger, which placed it at #15,588 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
#15,588
National first-name rank
People counted
736
736 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaeger
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaeger is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Jaeger 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 Jaeger at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 604
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 51
- Two or more races6.4% · 47
- Black or African American2.2% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 6
Popularity
Jaeger: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaeger from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 319 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jaeger remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaeger 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 Jaeger during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaegers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Washington, Minnesota, California recorded the most babies named Jaeger, while Texas, California, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaeger
The given name Jaeger has its origins in the German language. It is derived from the Middle High German word "jeger," which means "hunter" or "huntsman." This word can be traced back to the Old High German "jagere," which has the same meaning. The name is closely linked to the profession of hunting, which was a vital part of medieval German society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jaeger can be found in the 14th century German epic poem "The Ring of the Nibelung." In this work, a character named Jaeger is mentioned as a skilled hunter in the service of a king. This provides evidence that the name was in use during this time period and had associations with hunting.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the name Jaeger was primarily used by those involved in the hunting profession or those who lived in rural areas where hunting was a common activity. It was a name that carried a sense of ruggedness and connection to the natural world.
In the 16th century, a German theologian named Wolfgang Jaeger (1508-1572) gained prominence for his work on translating the Bible into German. He played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation and helped to solidify the use of the name Jaeger among German Protestants.
Another notable figure with the name Jaeger was Johann Wolfgang Jaeger (1647-1720), a German composer and organist during the Baroque period. He is known for his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and his work as a church musician in Nuremberg.
In the 19th century, a German philosopher named Gustav Jaeger (1808-1871) gained recognition for his writings on philosophy and education. He advocated for a holistic approach to education that emphasized physical and mental development, which influenced educational reforms in Germany.
A more recent figure with the name Jaeger is Wendelin Jaeger (1888-1961), an Austrian-born classical philologist and scholar of ancient Greek literature. He made significant contributions to the study of Aristotle and is considered one of the most influential classical scholars of the 20th century.
While the name Jaeger has its roots in the German language and culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in areas with German cultural influence or immigration. However, the name remains closely tied to its origins as a huntsman or hunter, reflecting the importance of this profession in medieval German society.
People
Jaeger + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaeger 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
Jaeger: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaeger?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 811 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaeger 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 422,632 US residents.
Is Jaeger a common name?
We classify Jaeger as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 821 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaeger most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaeger was 2002, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaeger 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 Jaeger in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 736 people with the name Jaeger, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,588 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 Jaeger 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 Jaeger?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaeger leans strongly male. 712 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 17 female bearers (2.3%). 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 Jaeger?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaeger is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Jaeger most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jaeger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (604 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 Jaeger in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaeger a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jaeger 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 Jaeger still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaeger 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 Jaeger 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 called Jaeger?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.