Javelle
A feminine name of French origin meaning "young woman".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Javelle. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Javelle today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Javelle births was 1994 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Javelle. 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 Javelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
1994
12 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2014 SSA rank
#9,144
Tracked since 1993
Census
Javelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Javelle, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Javelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Javelle is Black at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Javelle 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 Javelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.5% · 161
- Two or more races7.5% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 10
- White4.0% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Javelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Javelle from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 44 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Javelle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Javelle 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 Javelle 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 Javelle
The given name Javelle finds its origins in the French language and culture, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the late 18th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Old French word "javelle," which refers to a small bundle or sheaf of grain, or a small stream or brook. This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have originally been associated with rural or agricultural contexts.
Historically, the name Javelle does not appear to have any significant references in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or major historical records. However, it has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history, although their impact and recognition may vary.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Javelle was Jean-Baptiste Javelle, a French chemist born in 1796 and died in 1855. He is best known for his contributions to the development of bleaching agents, including the discovery of a solution now known as "Javelle water," which was used for bleaching and disinfecting purposes.
Another individual with the name Javelle was Adolphe Javelle, a French architect born in 1826 and died in 1890. He was responsible for the design and construction of several notable buildings in Paris, including the Palais de l'Industrie and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts.
In the literary world, Javelle Houzeau was a Belgian astronomer and writer who lived from 1820 to 1888. He is known for his contributions to the study of stars and his writings on astronomy, which include the book "Vade Mecum de l'Astronome" (Vade Mecum of the Astronomer).
Moving into the 20th century, Javelle Reynier was a French painter and sculptor born in 1908 and died in 1987. He was part of the Lyrical Abstraction movement and is known for his vibrant and expressive abstract works.
Lastly, Javelle Chauliac was a French fencer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He won a bronze medal in the team épée event, contributing to France's success in the sport during that era.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the given name Javelle throughout history, demonstrating its use across various fields and time periods, albeit with varying levels of prominence and recognition.
People
Javelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Javelle 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
Javelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Javelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Javelle 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Javelle a common name?
We classify Javelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Javelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Javelle was 1994, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Javelle is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Javelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Javelle, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Javelle 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 Javelle?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Javelle on both sides of the split. Of the 198 people counted with this name, 153 were male (77.3%) and 45 were female (22.7%). 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 Javelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Javelle is Black at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Javelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Javelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (161 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 Javelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Javelle a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Javelle 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 Javelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Javelle 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 Javelle 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 Javelle?
Want to know how many people share the name Javelle? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.