Jaelyn
A feminine name of English origin, meaning "modern rebirth".
Name Census estimates that about 15,287 living Americans carry the first name Jaelyn. It is a predominantly female name (91.1% of registrations). The average person named Jaelyn today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaelyn births was 2008 (1,090 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaelyn. 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 Jaelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jaelyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,421 Americans
Peak year
2008
1,090 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,568
Tracked since 1963
Census
Jaelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,153 people with the first name Jaelyn, which placed it at #2,177 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
#2,177
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,153 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaelyn is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.5%) and Black (22.0%). 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 Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.8% · 4,712
- Hispanic or Latino24.5% · 2,980
- Black or African American22.0% · 2,678
- Two or more races10.4% · 1,266
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 392
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 125
Gender
Gender distribution for Jaelyn
Jaelyn leans heavily female at 91.1% of total registrations, but 1,381 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jaelyn as a male name
- Ranked #3,625 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (102 births)
Jaelyn as a female name
- Ranked #1,568 in 2024
- 135 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (1,014 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaelyn leans strongly female. 11,222 people counted with this name were female (92.3%), compared with 935 male bearers (7.7%).
Popularity
Jaelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaelyn from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 7,270 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
Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jaelyn, while Vermont, Delaware, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 269 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaelyn
The given name Jaelyn is a relatively modern invention, originating in the late 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Jae and Lynne, with the latter being a shortened version of the traditional name Linda. The name Jae is of Korean origin, meaning "praiseworthy" or "good," while Linda is derived from the Old German name Linda, meaning "pretty" or "gentle."
Although Jaelyn is a new name, it shares similarities with the ancient name Jael, which appears in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Jael was a woman who famously killed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, by driving a tent peg through his temple while he was sleeping. This biblical figure's name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "ya'el," meaning "mountain goat."
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jaelyn can be found in the 1990 U.S. Social Security Administration's baby name records. However, it did not gain significant popularity until the early 2000s, when it emerged as a trendy combination of more traditional names.
Throughout history, there are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Jaelyn. Jaelyn Young (born 1994) is an American actress known for her roles in various television shows and films. Jaelyn Romo (born 2011) is the daughter of former professional football player Tony Romo and his wife, Candice Crawford.
Another individual with the name Jaelyn is Jaelyn Delshaun Young (born 1989), an American professional basketball player who played in the NBA and various international leagues. Additionally, Jaelyn Lay (born 1993) is a Canadian model and social media influencer, known for her work with various fashion brands.
Finally, Jaelyn Duncan (born 1999) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress who rose to prominence after participating in the reality competition show "The Next Star" in 2008.
While the name Jaelyn is relatively new, it has quickly gained popularity and recognition, with several individuals making their mark in various fields, from entertainment to sports and beyond.
People
Jaelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaelyn 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
Jaelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,287 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaelyn 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 22,421 US residents.
Is Jaelyn a common name?
We classify Jaelyn as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaelyn was 2008, when 1,090 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,153 people with the name Jaelyn, or 4.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,177 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 Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaelyn leans strongly female. 11,222 people counted with this name were female (92.3%), compared with 935 male bearers (7.7%). 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 Jaelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaelyn is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.5%) and Black (22.0%). 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 Jaelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jaelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.8% (4,712 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 Jaelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaelyn a female name?
Yes, 91.1% of people registered as Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn 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 Jaelyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Jaelyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.