Jehad
An Arabic name meaning "strenuous effort to achieve a praiseworthy goal."
Name Census estimates that about 170 living Americans carry the first name Jehad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jehad today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jehad births was 1993 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jehad. 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 Jehad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
170
~ 1 in 2,016,202 Americans
Peak year
1993
15 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2011 SSA rank
#11,467
Tracked since 1979
Census
Jehad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 560 people with the first name Jehad, which placed it at #19,065 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
#19,065
National first-name rank
People counted
560
560 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jehad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jehad is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Black (3.6%). 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 Jehad 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 Jehad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.8% · 486
- Two or more races6.1% · 34
- Black or African American3.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Jehad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jehad from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 80 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jehad 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 Jehad 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 Jehad
The name Jehad originates from the Arabic language and culture, with its roots dating back to the 7th century CE during the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is derived from the Arabic word "jihad," which means "struggle" or "effort." The name is closely associated with the concept of striving for a righteous cause or engaging in a spiritual struggle.
In Islamic teachings, the term "jihad" has various interpretations, including an internal struggle against one's own desires and temptations, as well as a defensive struggle against oppression or persecution. The name Jehad reflects this idea of striving for personal and spiritual betterment or fighting for a noble cause.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jehad can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Islamic conquests and the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa. It was likely used by early Muslims as a way to honor the concept of "jihad" and its significance in their faith.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jehad. One of the earliest examples is Jehad ibn Abi Sufyan (d. 671 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a military commander during the early Islamic conquests. Another prominent figure was Jehad ibn Qays (d. 701 CE), a renowned poet and warrior who played a role in the Islamic conquest of Persia.
In the 12th century, there was Jehad al-Din al-Shushtari (1212-1269), a Persian Sufi poet and mystic who wrote extensively on spiritual themes. His works, such as the "Majalis al-Ushshaq" (Assemblies of Lovers), remain influential in Sufi literature.
During the Ottoman Empire, Jehad Pasha (1499-1567) was a prominent military commander and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1555 to 1561. He played a significant role in the Ottoman conquest of Hungary and the siege of Malta.
In more recent times, Jehad Nga (1932-2017) was a prominent Burmese writer and journalist who was known for his contributions to Burmese literature and his advocacy for freedom of expression.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Jehad, reflecting its deep roots and historical significance within the Arabic and Islamic cultural traditions.
People
Jehad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jehad 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
Jehad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jehad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 170 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jehad 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 2,016,202 US residents.
Is Jehad a common name?
We classify Jehad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 175 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jehad most popular?
The single biggest year for Jehad was 1993, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jehad is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jehad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 560 people with the name Jehad, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,065 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 Jehad 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 Jehad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jehad leans strongly male. 480 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 79 female bearers (14.1%). 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 Jehad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jehad is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Black (3.6%). 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 Jehad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jehad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (486 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 Jehad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jehad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jehad 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 Jehad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jehad 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 Jehad 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 Jehad?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.