Jariah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "courageous" or "flourishing".
Name Census estimates that about 1,621 living Americans carry the first name Jariah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Jariah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jariah births was 2009 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jariah. 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.
Key insights
- • Jariah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 211,446 Americans
Peak year
2009
108 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,769
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jariah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,068 people with the first name Jariah, which placed it at #11,830 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
#11,830
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,068 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jariah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jariah is Black at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.9%) and White (7.6%). 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 Jariah 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 Jariah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.4% · 795
- Two or more races7.9% · 84
- White7.6% · 81
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Jariah
Jariah leans heavily female at 81.8% of total registrations, but 298 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jariah as a male name
- Ranked #5,520 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (21 births)
Jariah as a female name
- Ranked #3,769 in 2024
- 40 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (87 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jariah leans strongly female. 860 people counted with this name were female (81.1%), compared with 201 male bearers (18.9%).
Popularity
Jariah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jariah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 690 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jariah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jariah 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 Jariah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jariahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Florida, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Jariah, while Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jariah
The name Jariah originates from the Arabic language and can be traced back to the 7th century during the rise of Islam. It is derived from the Arabic word "jariyah," which means "a flowing stream" or "a river." The name is often associated with purity, grace, and serenity, reflecting the gentle flow of water.
In Islamic tradition, Jariah is mentioned in the Hadith, the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the Hadith, Jariah was a young girl who lived during the time of the Prophet and was known for her kindness and devotion.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jariah can be found in historical records from the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, which ruled the Islamic empire from the 7th to the 13th centuries. During this period, the name was popular among Arab families, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Jariah was Jariah al-Qibtiyyah, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century. She was originally from Egypt and was known for her expertise in Arabic literature and her contribution to the development of the Arabic language.
Another prominent figure with the name Jariah was Jariah al-Baghdadiyah, a renowned mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and is credited with developing several mathematical concepts and theories.
In the 12th century, Jariah al-Andalusiyah was a renowned poet and literary figure from Spain. Her poetry was widely celebrated and appreciated for its depth and beauty, and she is considered one of the most influential poets of her time.
During the 13th century, Jariah al-Dimashqiyah was a famous Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus. She was known for her expertise in Islamic law and her contributions to the study of the Quran and Hadith.
In more recent history, Jariah bint Al-Husayn was a prominent figure in the 20th century. She was a Saudi Arabian princess and philanthropist who worked tirelessly to promote education and social welfare in the region.
People
Jariah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jariah 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
Jariah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jariah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,621 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jariah 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 211,446 US residents.
Is Jariah a common name?
We classify Jariah as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,638 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jariah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jariah was 2009, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jariah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jariah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,068 people with the name Jariah, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,830 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 Jariah 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 Jariah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jariah leans strongly female. 860 people counted with this name were female (81.1%), compared with 201 male bearers (18.9%). 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 Jariah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jariah is Black at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.9%) and White (7.6%). 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 Jariah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jariah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.4% (795 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 Jariah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jariah a female name?
Yes, 81.8% of people registered as Jariah 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 Jariah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jariah 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 Jariah 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 are called Jariah?
You can see how many Americans are named Jariah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.