Jefferey
A variant spelling of the masculine name "Geoffrey", derived from the Germanic "Gaufrid", meaning "traveler" or "pilgrim".
Name Census estimates that about 3,543 living Americans carry the first name Jefferey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jefferey today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jefferey births was 1969 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jefferey. 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
3.5K
~ 1 in 96,741 Americans
Peak year
1969
141 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,246
Tracked since 1943
Census
Jefferey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,426 people with the first name Jefferey, which placed it at #5,118 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
#5,118
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,426 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jefferey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jefferey is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Jefferey 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 Jefferey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.1% · 2,437
- Black or African American13.4% · 458
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 239
- Two or more races3.6% · 125
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 43
Popularity
Jefferey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jefferey from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jefferey 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 Jefferey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeffereys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jefferey, while South Carolina, Massachusetts, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jefferey
The given name Jefferey originates from the Germanic name Geoffrey, which is derived from the Old French name Geoffroi. This name itself comes from the Old German words "gau" meaning "territory" and "frid" meaning "peace," essentially translating to "peaceful territory." The name became popular in medieval Europe, particularly in England and France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jefferey can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name Geoffrey is mentioned several times in this historical record, indicating its presence in England during the Norman era.
The name gained further prominence in the 12th century due to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh cleric and one of the most influential chroniclers of British history. His work, Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), written around 1136, popularized the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, contributing to the enduring fame of the name Geoffrey.
In the 13th century, the name was borne by Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet and author of the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer, who lived from around 1343 to 1400, is considered the father of English literature and his use of the name further cemented its prestige.
Another notable figure with the name Jefferey was Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, born around 1113. He was the father of King Henry II of England and played a significant role in the political landscape of medieval Europe.
During the Renaissance period, the Italian scholar and humanist Geoffrey Tory, born around 1480, made contributions to the development of typography and book design, further adding to the name's historical significance.
While the spelling variation "Jefferey" emerged later, it is important to note that throughout history, the name has been spelled in various ways, including Geoffrey, Jeffry, and Jeffery, reflecting the evolution of language and regional variations.
People
Jefferey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jefferey 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
Jefferey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jefferey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,543 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jefferey 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 96,741 US residents.
Is Jefferey a common name?
We classify Jefferey as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,973 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jefferey most popular?
The single biggest year for Jefferey was 1969, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jefferey is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jefferey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,426 people with the name Jefferey, or 1.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,118 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 Jefferey 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 Jefferey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jefferey appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,437 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jefferey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jefferey is White at 71.1%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Jefferey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jefferey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.1% (2,437 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 Jefferey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jefferey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jefferey 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 Jefferey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jefferey 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 Jefferey 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 Jefferey?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.