Jaylene
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps combining "Jay" and "Lena".
Name Census estimates that about 9,764 living Americans carry the first name Jaylene. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Jaylene today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaylene births was 2008 (483 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaylene. 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 Jaylene with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Jaylene is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 75 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
9.8K
~ 1 in 35,104 Americans
Peak year
2008
483 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2007 SSA rank
#1,209
Tracked since 1938
Census
Jaylene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,979 people with the first name Jaylene, which placed it at #3,138 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
#3,138
National first-name rank
People counted
7.0K
6,979 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaylene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaylene is Hispanic at 72.4%. The next largest groups are White (16.1%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Jaylene 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 Jaylene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.4% · 5,056
- White16.1% · 1,127
- Black or African American3.8% · 266
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 250
- Two or more races2.2% · 156
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 124
Gender
Gender distribution for Jaylene
Out of the 10,043 babies given the name Jaylene since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Jaylene as a male name
- Ranked #11,553 in 2007
- 6 male births in 2007
- Peak: 1999 (11 births)
Jaylene as a female name
- Ranked #1,209 in 2024
- 195 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (483 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaylene leans strongly female. 6,880 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 97 male bearers (1.4%).
Popularity
Jaylene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaylene from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,723 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaylene 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 Jaylene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaylenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Jaylene, while Tennessee, Hawaii, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 384 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaylene
The name Jaylene is a relatively modern invention, believed to have originated in the early 20th century as a combination of the names Jayne and Arlene. Its roots can be traced back to both French and English origins.
The first part of the name, Jay, is derived from the French name Jacques, which in turn comes from the Latin name Jacobus, meaning "supplanter." The second part, lene, is of English origin and is believed to be a variation of the name Arlene, which itself is a combination of the French name Arline and the English name Lena.
While the name Jaylene does not have a long historical tradition, it has been documented in various records and has been borne by several notable individuals throughout the years. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Jaylene Decker, an American actress born in 1937, who appeared in several television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
Another notable figure with this name is Jaylene Tyme, an American singer and songwriter born in 1965. She is best known for her work in the country music genre and has released several albums over the course of her career.
In the literary world, Jaylene Johnson is an American author and professor, born in 1962, who has written several books on topics related to education and social justice.
In the field of sports, Jaylene Bourgoyne is a Canadian softball player who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal with the Canadian national team.
Lastly, Jaylene Morales is a Mexican-American actress and model, born in 1981, who has appeared in various television shows and films, including the popular soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful."
While the name Jaylene may not have a long and storied history, it has been embraced by individuals from diverse backgrounds and walks of life, each adding their own unique chapter to the story of this name.
People
Jaylene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaylene 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
Jaylene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaylene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,764 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaylene 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 35,104 US residents.
Is Jaylene a common name?
We classify Jaylene as "Rare". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,043 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaylene most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaylene was 2008, when 483 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaylene is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jaylene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,979 people with the name Jaylene, or 2.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,138 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 Jaylene 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 Jaylene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaylene leans strongly female. 6,880 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 97 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Jaylene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaylene is Hispanic at 72.4%. The next largest groups are White (16.1%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Jaylene most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jaylene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (5,056 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 Jaylene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaylene a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Jaylene 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 Jaylene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaylene 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 Jaylene 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 share the name Jaylene?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.