Jayann
A feminine name of English origin meaning "bright and graceful".
Name Census estimates that about 44 living Americans carry the first name Jayann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jayann today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jayann births was 2008 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jayann. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jayann. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
44
~ 1 in 7,789,871 Americans
Peak year
2008
7 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2009 SSA rank
#18,513
Tracked since 1967
Census
Jayann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 249 people with the first name Jayann, which placed it at #33,298 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
#33,298
National first-name rank
People counted
249
249 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jayann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jayann is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (30.9%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Jayann 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 Jayann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.0% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander30.9% · 77
- Black or African American12.9% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 17
- Two or more races3.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
Popularity
Jayann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jayann from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 40 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jayann 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 Jayann 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 Jayann
The name Jayann is a gender-neutral name of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have roots in both English and French cultures. The first part of the name, "Jay," is thought to be derived from the Old French word "jai," meaning "bright" or "joyful." This could suggest that the name Jayann was initially intended to convey a sense of happiness or radiance.
The second part of the name, "ann," is a common suffix found in many English and French names, such as "Ann," "Anne," or "Annette." This suffix is believed to have Germanic roots and may have originally been derived from the Hebrew name "Hannah," meaning "grace" or "favor."
While the exact origin of the name Jayann is uncertain, it is possible that it emerged as a combination of these two elements, potentially in the late 19th or early 20th century. However, there are no definitive historical records or ancient texts that mention the name Jayann specifically.
Jayann does not appear to have been a particularly common name throughout history, but there are a few notable individuals who have borne this moniker:
1. Jayann Oldroyd (born 1964) is an American actress and producer known for her work in films such as "The Champ" (1979) and "The Burning" (1981).
2. Jayann Sepich (born 1984) is an American entrepreneur and advocate for victims' rights. She founded the nonprofit organization "Jayann's Law" after her mother's murder in 2003.
3. Jayann Gambill (born 1981) is a former professional tennis player from the United States, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 15 in the world in 2002.
4. Jayann Buchanan (born 1949) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, best known for her work in the folk music genre.
5. Jayann Sepich (born 1984) is a prominent advocate for victims' rights and founder of the nonprofit organization "Jayann's Law," named after her mother who was murdered in 2003.
While the name Jayann may not have a long and storied history, it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, each contributing to the name's legacy in their own unique way.
People
Jayann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jayann 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
Jayann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jayann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 44 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jayann 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 7,789,871 US residents.
Is Jayann a common name?
We classify Jayann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 45 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jayann most popular?
The single biggest year for Jayann was 2008, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jayann is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jayann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 249 people with the name Jayann, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,298 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 Jayann 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 Jayann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jayann leans strongly female. 244 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Jayann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jayann is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (30.9%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Jayann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jayann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.0% (112 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 Jayann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jayann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jayann 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 Jayann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jayann 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 Jayann 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 Jayann?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Jayann at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.