Jb
A diminutive form of the name James or Jacob.
Name Census estimates that about 463 living Americans carry the first name Jb. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jb today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jb births was 1920 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jb. 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
463
~ 1 in 740,290 Americans
Peak year
1920
19 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,438
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Jb: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jb from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Jb remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jb 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 Jb during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jbs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jb
The given name Jb is a highly unusual one, with its origins shrouded in mystery and obscurity. It is believed to be derived from ancient Hebrew or Aramaic languages, although its precise etymology remains uncertain.
Some scholars have speculated that Jb may be a shortened or abbreviated form of a longer name, possibly related to the biblical figure Job, whose name in Hebrew is Iyov. However, there is no conclusive evidence to support this theory.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Jb are found in ancient religious texts and historical chronicles from the Middle East. One notable mention is in the Book of Job, an ancient Hebrew text that is part of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. In this text, the name Jb is not directly used, but the protagonist, Job, is a righteous man who endures great suffering and trials.
Throughout the centuries, the name Jb has been exceedingly rare, with only a handful of notable individuals bearing it. One of the earliest recorded figures with this name was Jb al-Tawwāl, a 9th-century Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry and wrote several treatises on astronomy and mathematics.
In the 12th century, there was a French theologian and philosopher named Jb of Chartres, who was a prominent figure in the School of Chartres, a renowned center of learning in medieval France. He wrote extensively on various philosophical and theological subjects, and his works influenced the intellectual landscape of his time.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Jb Ludolf was a German scholar and orientalist who made significant contributions to the study of the Ethiopian language and culture. He is best known for his Ethiopic-Latin dictionary and grammar, which were invaluable resources for understanding the Ge'ez language and its literature.
In the 19th century, Jb Lightfoot was an English theologian and biblical scholar who served as the Bishop of Durham. He is particularly renowned for his extensive work on the Apostolic Fathers, a collection of early Christian writings from the late 1st and early 2nd centuries.
While the name Jb has been uncommon throughout history, it has left its mark in various fields, from mathematics and astronomy to theology and biblical studies. Despite its rarity, the individuals who have borne this name have made notable contributions to their respective disciplines.
People
Jb + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jb 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
Jb: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jb?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 463 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jb 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 740,290 US residents.
Is Jb a common name?
We classify Jb as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 633 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jb most popular?
The single biggest year for Jb was 1920, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jb is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Jb in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jb a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jb 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 Jb still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jb 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 Jb 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Jb?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.