Janeal
A feminine name of English origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 254 living Americans carry the first name Janeal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janeal today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janeal births was 1961 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janeal. 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
254
~ 1 in 1,349,427 Americans
Peak year
1961
12 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2011 SSA rank
#17,912
Tracked since 1938
Census
Janeal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 406 people with the first name Janeal, which placed it at #23,937 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
#23,937
National first-name rank
People counted
406
406 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janeal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janeal is White at 62.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Janeal 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 Janeal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.1% · 252
- Black or African American26.8% · 109
- Two or more races5.4% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Janeal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janeal from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janeal 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 Janeal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janeals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Janeal
The name Janeal is believed to have originated from the French language, where it is a combination of the names "Jane" and "Eleanor." The name "Jane" derives from the Hebrew name "Yohanan," meaning "God is gracious," while "Eleanor" comes from the Provençal name "Aliénor," meaning "foreign" or "stranger."
This unique blend of names is thought to have first appeared during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, in France and surrounding regions. It is possible that the name was initially created as a feminine form of the masculine name "Janeau," which was a French variation of the name "John."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Janeal can be found in the historical records of the French nobility from the 14th century. A noblewoman named Janeal de Beaumont is mentioned in a document dated around 1375, suggesting that the name was in use among the aristocratic class during that time.
In the centuries that followed, the name Janeal remained relatively uncommon but was occasionally bestowed upon individuals from various backgrounds. Notable figures in history who bore this name include Janeal Rousseau, a French philosopher and writer who lived in the 18th century, and Janeal Dubois, a French artist and painter from the 19th century.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Janeal was Janeal Lefèvre, a French resistance fighter during World War II. Born in 1920, Lefèvre played a crucial role in the French Resistance movement against the German occupation, risking her life to aid Allied forces and shelter refugees. Her bravery and determination earned her numerous honors and awards, and she is celebrated as a national hero in France.
Another notable figure with this name was Janeal Mercier, an influential French feminist and activist who lived from 1923 to 2011. Mercier dedicated her life to advocating for women's rights and gender equality, founding several organizations and publishing numerous works on the subject.
While the name Janeal may not be as common as some other names, it has a rich history that spans centuries and has been borne by remarkable individuals who have left their mark on various fields and disciplines.
People
Janeal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janeal 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
Janeal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janeal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janeal 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 1,349,427 US residents.
Is Janeal a common name?
We classify Janeal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 315 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janeal most popular?
The single biggest year for Janeal was 1961, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janeal is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janeal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 406 people with the name Janeal, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,937 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 Janeal 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 Janeal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janeal leans strongly female. 363 people counted with this name were female (89.2%), compared with 44 male bearers (10.8%). 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 Janeal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janeal is White at 62.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Janeal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Janeal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.1% (252 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 Janeal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janeal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Janeal 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 Janeal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janeal 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 Janeal 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 Janeal?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Janeal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.