Jahira
A feminine Arabic name meaning "shining" or "brilliant".
Name Census estimates that about 365 living Americans carry the first name Jahira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jahira today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jahira births was 2003 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jahira. 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
365
~ 1 in 939,053 Americans
Peak year
2003
21 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,615
Tracked since 1978
Census
Jahira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 341 people with the first name Jahira, which placed it at #27,024 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
#27,024
National first-name rank
People counted
341
341 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
58.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jahira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jahira is Hispanic at 58.1%. The next largest groups are Black (35.2%) and White (2.9%). 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 Jahira 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 Jahira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino58.1% · 198
- Black or African American35.2% · 120
- White2.9% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 7
- Two or more races1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Jahira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jahira from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 143 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
Jahira 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 Jahira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jahiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Jahira, while New Jersey, California, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jahira
The given name Jahira has its roots in Arabic culture, with the earliest known usage dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "jahir," meaning "famous" or "renowned." The name carries connotations of honor, distinction, and admiration within the Arabic-speaking world.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Jahira is not found in religious scriptures or ancient texts. However, it gained popularity as a personal name during the Golden Age of Islam, a period marked by significant cultural, scientific, and intellectual achievements in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Jahira was Jahira al-Hamdaniya, a prominent female poet who lived in the 9th century CE in present-day Iraq. Her poetry, which celebrated love and nature, earned her widespread acclaim during her lifetime.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jahira was Jahira bint Maslamah, a 7th-century Muslim scholar and jurist from Medina. She was renowned for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the propagation of religious knowledge.
During the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled from 661 to 750 CE, the name Jahira gained further prominence. Jahira bint Yazid (born circa 680 CE), the daughter of the Umayyad caliph Yazid II, was a respected patron of arts and literature, and her court attracted many renowned poets and scholars.
In the 12th century, Jahira al-Andalusiya, a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar, gained recognition for her poetic works and her contributions to the intellectual circles of Islamic Spain.
Another noteworthy bearer of the name was Jahira al-Hamdaniya (born 1163 CE), a skilled calligrapher and illuminator from Baghdad. Her exquisite calligraphic works adorned numerous manuscripts and artistic pieces, showcasing the intricate art form that flourished during the Islamic Golden Age.
While the name Jahira has its roots in the Arabic-speaking world, it has transcended cultural boundaries and has been adopted by various communities across different regions. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its unique sound, historical significance, and the positive connotations it carries.
People
Jahira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jahira 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
Jahira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jahira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 365 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jahira 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 939,053 US residents.
Is Jahira a common name?
We classify Jahira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 373 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jahira most popular?
The single biggest year for Jahira was 2003, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jahira is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jahira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 341 people with the name Jahira, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,024 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 Jahira 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 Jahira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jahira leans strongly female. 339 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Jahira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jahira is Hispanic at 58.1%. The next largest groups are Black (35.2%) and White (2.9%). 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 Jahira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jahira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.1% (198 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 Jahira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jahira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jahira 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 Jahira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jahira 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 Jahira 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 Jahira?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Jahira at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.