Jeani
Feminine diminutive form of the French name Jeanne, derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 323 living Americans carry the first name Jeani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeani today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeani births was 1958 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeani. 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
323
~ 1 in 1,061,159 Americans
Peak year
1958
19 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2003 SSA rank
#14,646
Tracked since 1941
Census
Jeani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 467 people with the first name Jeani, which placed it at #21,646 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
#21,646
National first-name rank
People counted
467
467 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeani is White at 81.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Jeani 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 Jeani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.2% · 379
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 22
- Black or African American4.1% · 19
- Two or more races3.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 7
Popularity
Jeani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeani from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 123 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeani 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 Jeani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeanis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeani
The name Jeani is a feminine given name that originated from the French language. It is a variant spelling of the name Jeanne, which has its roots in the Hebrew name Yohanan or Yohannah, meaning "Yahweh is gracious" or "God is gracious." The name gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Jeani dates back to the 13th century. It was a common name among the French nobility and aristocracy during this period. One notable historical figure with the name Jeani was Jeani de Valois, a French princess who lived in the 14th century and was the daughter of King Philip VI of France.
In the 15th century, the name Jeani appeared in several religious texts and chronicles, particularly those associated with the Catholic Church. Saint Jeani d'Arc, better known as Joan of Arc (1412-1431), was a famous bearer of the name. She was a French heroine and Catholic saint who led the French army to victory against the English during the Hundred Years' War.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jeani gained further popularity across Europe. Jeani de Lauzon (1599-1666) was a French settler who became one of the first seigneurs in New France (modern-day Quebec, Canada). Another notable figure was Jeani de Matel (1596-1670), a French mystic and founder of the Order of the Incarnate Word.
In the 17th century, the name Jeani was also popular in England and Scotland. Jeani Barclay (1628-1684) was a Scottish Quaker and writer who published several religious works. Jeani Beaufort (1608-1670) was an English writer and playwright who worked during the Restoration era.
Moving into the 18th century, Jeani Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764), better known as Madame de Pompadour, was a prominent French courtesan and the official mistress of King Louis XV. Her influence and patronage of the arts made her a significant figure in French culture and society.
These are just a few examples of notable historical figures who bore the name Jeani. While its popularity has waxed and waned over the centuries, the name Jeani has maintained a presence throughout various cultures and time periods, particularly in France and other parts of Europe.
People
Jeani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeani 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
Jeani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeani 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 1,061,159 US residents.
Is Jeani a common name?
We classify Jeani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 422 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeani most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeani was 1958, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeani is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 467 people with the name Jeani, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,646 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 Jeani 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 Jeani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeani leans strongly female. 458 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Jeani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeani is White at 81.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7%). 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 Jeani most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.2% (379 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 Jeani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeani 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 Jeani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeani 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 Jeani 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 have the name Jeani?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jeani, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.