Jago
A masculine Portuguese name meaning "to supplant" or "to supplant" others.
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Jago. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jago today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jago births was 2015 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jago. 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 Jago with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
2015
11 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,252
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Jago: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jago from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 69 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jago remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jago 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 Jago during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jago
The name Jago has its origins in the Spanish language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is a variant of the name Jacob, which is derived from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "one who supplants" or "to follow."
In the Spanish tradition, Jago was particularly popular during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and it was often associated with nobility and the Catholic Church. The name was also commonly used in Portugal and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Jago can be found in the 13th-century text "Cantigas de Santa Maria," a collection of religious songs written in Galician-Portuguese during the reign of King Alfonso X of Castile and León. The name also appears in various religious texts and hagiographies from the same period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jago. One of the earliest was Jago de Compostela (c. 1190-1284), a Galician-born Dominican friar and theologian who served as the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela. Another prominent individual was Jago de Valencia (c. 1370-1435), a Spanish painter and illuminator of manuscripts from the Kingdom of Valencia.
During the Renaissance, Jago Sánchez de Avilés (c. 1520-1598) was a Spanish explorer and navigator who played a crucial role in the exploration and settlement of Florida. In the 17th century, Jago de Castro (1585-1631) was a renowned Portuguese military leader and colonial administrator who served as the Viceroy of Portuguese India.
In the 18th century, Jago Potocki (1761-1815) was a Polish nobleman, writer, and traveler who is best known for his travelogues and his contributions to Polish literature. Another notable figure from this period was Jago Jackson (1758-1806), a British naval officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
People
Jago + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jago 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
Jago: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jago?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jago 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Jago a common name?
We classify Jago as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jago most popular?
The single biggest year for Jago was 2015, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jago is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Jago in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jago a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jago 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 Jago still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jago 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 Jago 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Jago?
Want to know how many people share the name Jago? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.