Janay
Feminine name of French origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 5,599 living Americans carry the first name Janay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janay today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janay births was 1987 (596 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janay. 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 Janay with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,217 Americans
Peak year
1987
596 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,358
Tracked since 1952
Census
Janay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,939 people with the first name Janay, which placed it at #3,949 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
#3,949
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,939 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janay is Black at 69.5%. The next largest groups are White (13.1%) and Hispanic (10.2%). 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 Janay 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 Janay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.5% · 3,434
- White13.1% · 648
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 506
- Two or more races6.1% · 299
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 23
Popularity
Janay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janay from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janay 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 Janay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Janay, while Oklahoma, Nevada, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 125 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Janay
The name Janay is believed to have originated from the French language. It is a variation of the name Janine, which is derived from the Dutch name Jannetje, a diminutive form of the name Jane or Joan. The name Jane is ultimately rooted in the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious" or "Jehovah has favored me."
The earliest recorded use of the name Janay can be traced back to the late 19th century in France. It gained popularity in the 20th century, particularly in the United States, where it became a relatively common name for newborn girls.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Janay was Janay DeGarmo, an American opera singer born in 1915. She performed with various opera companies and gained recognition for her roles in works by composers such as Puccini and Verdi.
Another notable figure with the name Janay was Janay Palmer, an American social worker and activist born in 1932. She dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of underprivileged communities and played a significant role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
In the literary world, Janay Parson was a renowned American poet and author born in 1948. Her works explored themes of identity, social justice, and the human experience. She received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1985.
Janay Delgado, born in 1972, was a groundbreaking scientist and engineer who made significant contributions to the field of renewable energy technology. Her research focused on developing efficient and cost-effective solar panel systems, which have been widely adopted in various parts of the world.
Lastly, Janay Norwood, born in 1988, is a celebrated American athlete who has represented her country in multiple Olympic Games. She has won several medals in track and field events, particularly in the heptathlon and long jump competitions.
While the name Janay has French origins, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in diverse fields, from the arts and literature to science, social activism, and sports.
People
Janay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janay 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
Janay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,599 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janay 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 61,217 US residents.
Is Janay a common name?
We classify Janay as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,817 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janay most popular?
The single biggest year for Janay was 1987, when 596 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janay is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,939 people with the name Janay, or 1.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,949 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 Janay 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 Janay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janay appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,939 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Janay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janay is Black at 69.5%. The next largest groups are White (13.1%) and Hispanic (10.2%). 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 Janay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Janay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (3,434 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 Janay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Janay 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 Janay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janay 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 Janay 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 the name Janay?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Janay, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.