Jaris
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "someone who has embraced religion".
Name Census estimates that about 282 living Americans carry the first name Jaris. It is a predominantly male name (92.9% of registrations). The average person named Jaris today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaris births was 1991 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaris. 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
282
~ 1 in 1,215,441 Americans
Peak year
1991
18 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,231
Tracked since 1930
Census
Jaris in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 393 people with the first name Jaris, which placed it at #24,486 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
#24,486
National first-name rank
People counted
393
393 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
34.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaris
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaris is White at 34.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.0%) and Hispanic (24.9%). 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 Jaris 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 Jaris at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White34.1% · 134
- Black or African American31.0% · 122
- Hispanic or Latino24.9% · 98
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 17
- Two or more races4.1% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Jaris
Jaris leans heavily male at 92.9% of total registrations, but 21 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jaris as a male name
- Ranked #9,231 in 2019
- 8 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1984 (13 births)
Jaris as a female name
- Ranked #14,150 in 1992
- 5 female births in 1992
- Peak: 1991 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jaris on both sides of the split. Of the 394 people counted with this name, 285 were male (72.3%) and 109 were female (27.7%).
Popularity
Jaris: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaris from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Jaris remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaris 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 Jaris 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 Jaris
The name Jaris finds its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, spoken in parts of the Middle East and Central Asia from around the 8th century BCE to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Aramaic root word "yara," which means "to instruct" or "to guide." As such, the name Jaris was initially associated with the concept of wisdom, teaching, and leadership.
One of the earliest known references to the name Jaris can be found in the Aramaic inscriptions from the ancient city of Palmyra, located in present-day Syria. These inscriptions, dating back to the 3rd century CE, mention a man named Jaris who held a prominent position in the city's administration.
During the Byzantine era, the name Jaris gained popularity among the Eastern Christian communities. It is believed that several notable figures from this period bore the name, including Jaris of Edessa, a 5th-century scholar and theologian renowned for his translations of Greek philosophical and scientific works into Syriac.
In the 9th century, the name Jaris appeared in the chronicles of the Abbasid Caliphate, referring to a renowned poet and philosopher from Baghdad. This individual, known as Jaris al-Baghdadi, was celebrated for his mastery of Arabic literature and his contributions to the intellectual discourse of the time.
As the centuries passed, the name Jaris continued to be used across various regions and cultures influenced by the Aramaic and Arabic languages. Notable individuals with this name include:
1. Jaris al-Qadri (1165-1235), a Sufi mystic and scholar from Persia, known for his spiritual teachings and poetry.
2. Jaris al-Rumi (1207-1273), a renowned Persian poet, theologian, and mystic, whose works, such as the Masnavi, have had a profound impact on Islamic literature and spirituality.
3. Jaris ibn Idris al-Bitruji (c. 1200), an Andalusian astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of planetary motion.
4. Jaris al-Dimashqi (1256-1327), a Syrian geographer and traveler, best known for his comprehensive description of the known world during the Mamluk period.
5. Jaris al-Khwarizmi (c. 780-850), a Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer, who is credited with the invention of algebra and the development of the algorithm concept.
While the name Jaris has roots in ancient languages and cultures, it has continued to be used throughout history, carrying with it the connotations of wisdom, guidance, and scholarly pursuits.
People
Jaris + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaris 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
Jaris: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaris?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 282 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaris 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 1,215,441 US residents.
Is Jaris a common name?
We classify Jaris as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaris most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaris was 1991, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaris 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 Jaris in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 393 people with the name Jaris, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,486 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 Jaris 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 Jaris?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jaris on both sides of the split. Of the 394 people counted with this name, 285 were male (72.3%) and 109 were female (27.7%). 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 Jaris?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaris is White at 34.1%. The next largest groups are Black (31.0%) and Hispanic (24.9%). 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 Jaris most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jaris in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.1% (134 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 Jaris in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaris a male name?
Yes, 92.9% of people registered as Jaris 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 Jaris still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaris 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 Jaris 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 named Jaris?
Find out how many Americans are named Jaris on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.