Jeffer
A French masculine name meaning "peaceful" or "heaven's peace".
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Jeffer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeffer today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeffer births was 1930 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeffer. 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 Jeffer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1930
5 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2002 SSA rank
#11,484
Tracked since 1930
Census
Jeffer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Jeffer, 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
White
31.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeffer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeffer is White at 31.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (24.0%). 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 Jeffer 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 Jeffer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White31.5% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino29.0% · 58
- Black or African American24.0% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.5% · 21
- Two or more races5.0% · 10
Popularity
Jeffer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeffer from the 1930s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5 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
Jeffer 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 Jeffer 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 Jeffer
The given name Jeffer is a relatively uncommon name that has its origins in the Old English language. It is believed to have derived from the Germanic word "gafre," which means "spear" or "javelin." This suggests that the name may have been associated with warriors or soldiers in ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jeffer can be traced back to the 11th century, where it appeared in the Domesday Book, a historic record commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document listed landowners and their properties throughout England and Wales.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Jeffer was predominantly found in various regions of England, particularly in the northern counties. It was often spelled with variations such as "Jever" or "Jever."
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Jeffer de Thornton was mentioned in historical records as a landowner and knight from Yorkshire, England. His exact birth and death dates are unknown, but he was documented as having lived during the reign of King Henry III.
During the Renaissance period, a prominent scholar and philosopher named Jeffer Fitzwilliam was born in 1492 in Norfolk, England. He is known for his contributions to the study of natural philosophy and his writings on the philosophy of science.
In the 17th century, Jeffer Hawkins, born in 1615 in Lincolnshire, England, became a renowned explorer and navigator. He is credited with mapping several uncharted territories in the Americas and contributing to the advancement of cartography during that era.
Another notable individual bearing the name Jeffer was Jeffer Delaney, an Irish-born playwright and poet who lived from 1725 to 1789. He gained recognition for his satirical works and his contributions to the development of Irish literature during the 18th century.
Despite its historical roots, the name Jeffer has remained relatively uncommon throughout the centuries. While it has been documented in various historical records and associated with notable figures, it has not gained widespread popularity as a given name in modern times.
People
Jeffer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeffer 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
Jeffer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeffer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeffer 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Jeffer a common name?
We classify Jeffer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeffer most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeffer was 1930, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeffer is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeffer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Jeffer, 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 Jeffer 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 Jeffer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeffer leans strongly male. 187 people counted with this name were male (93.5%), compared with 13 female bearers (6.5%). 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 Jeffer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeffer is White at 31.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (29.0%) and Black (24.0%). 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 Jeffer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeffer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 31.5% (63 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 Jeffer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeffer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeffer 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 Jeffer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeffer 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 Jeffer 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 common is the name Jeffer?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.