Jarod
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "descent".
Name Census estimates that about 11,403 living Americans carry the first name Jarod. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jarod today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jarod births was 1998 (1,045 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jarod. 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 Jarod with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,058 Americans
Peak year
1998
1,045 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,522
Tracked since 1966
Census
Jarod in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,751 people with the first name Jarod, which placed it at #2,346 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
#2,346
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,751 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jarod
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jarod is White at 75.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Jarod 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 Jarod at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.2% · 8,083
- Black or African American9.9% · 1,062
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 769
- Two or more races4.8% · 520
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 233
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 84
Gender
Gender distribution for Jarod
Out of the 11,796 babies given the name Jarod since 1880, 100.0% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Jarod as a male name
- Ranked #5,522 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (1,045 births)
Jarod as a female name
- Ranked #11,158 in 1982
- 5 female births in 1982
- Peak: 1982 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jarod appears almost entirely male. Of the 10,754 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Jarod: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jarod from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,004 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
Jarod 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 Jarod during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jarods live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jarod, while Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 202 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jarod
The given name Jarod is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Jared. It is believed to have emerged during ancient times, with roots tracing back to the Old Testament. The name Jared is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as one of the antediluvian patriarchs, a direct descendant of Adam.
In Hebrew, the name Jared is thought to stem from the word "yarad," which translates to "descent" or "one who descends." This could potentially allude to Jared's role as a patriarch in the lineage leading from Adam to Noah. Alternatively, some scholars suggest that the name may be linked to the Hebrew word "yarad," meaning "to rule" or "to govern," implying a position of authority.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jared can be found in the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish work dating back to the 3rd century BCE. In this text, Jared is portrayed as a righteous figure who lived for 962 years and taught his descendants the principles of righteousness.
Throughout history, the name Jarod or its variations have been borne by several notable individuals. In the 8th century BCE, the prophet Jeremiah mentions a man named Jared in the Book of Jeremiah, though little is known about his life. During the Middle Ages, Jared of Venice (c. 1200-1285) was a renowned Italian merchant and explorer who traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia.
In more recent times, Jarod Kintz (born 1982) is an American author and satirist known for his humorous and thought-provoking literary works. Jarod Miller (born 1975) is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA for several teams, including the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls. Jarod Joseph (born 1983) is a Canadian actor best known for his roles in television shows like "The 100" and "Supernatural."
It is worth noting that the spelling variation "Jarod" is more commonly seen in modern times, while the traditional Hebrew spelling "Jared" is more commonly found in historical records and religious texts.
People
Jarod + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jarod 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
Jarod: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jarod?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,403 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jarod 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 30,058 US residents.
Is Jarod a common name?
We classify Jarod as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,796 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jarod most popular?
The single biggest year for Jarod was 1998, when 1,045 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jarod is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jarod in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,751 people with the name Jarod, or 3.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,346 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 Jarod 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 Jarod?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jarod appears almost entirely male. Of the 10,754 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jarod?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jarod is White at 75.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Jarod most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jarod in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.2% (8,083 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 Jarod in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jarod a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jarod 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 Jarod still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jarod 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 Jarod 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 Jarod?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.