Jenah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "heaven" or "paradise".
Name Census estimates that about 464 living Americans carry the first name Jenah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenah today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenah births was 2008 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenah. 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
464
~ 1 in 738,695 Americans
Peak year
2008
32 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2019 SSA rank
#16,602
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jenah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 469 people with the first name Jenah, which placed it at #21,580 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
#21,580
National first-name rank
People counted
469
469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenah is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.4%). 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 Jenah 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 Jenah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.5% · 326
- Hispanic or Latino12.2% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 30
- Black or African American6.0% · 28
- Two or more races5.3% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Jenah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenah from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jenah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jenah 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 Jenah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenah
The name Jenah is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "jennah," which means "paradise" or "garden." This name can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Islamic tradition, the word "jennah" is often used to refer to the heavenly gardens promised to the righteous in the afterlife. It is a concept that holds significant importance in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and is frequently mentioned as a reward for those who lead a virtuous life.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jenah can be found in historical records from the medieval period in the Middle East. One notable figure bearing this name was Jenah al-Baghdadi, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century. She was known for her contributions to the fields of astronomy and mathematics.
Another historical figure with the name Jenah was Jenah al-Andalusi, a renowned poet and writer from the 11th century who hailed from the region of Andalusia, which was then under Muslim rule. Her works were widely celebrated for their lyrical beauty and profound insights.
In the 13th century, there was a notable figure named Jenah al-Dimashqi, who was a prominent jurist and scholar from Damascus. He was renowned for his expertise in Islamic law and his written works on the subject, which were widely studied and referenced by legal scholars of the time.
During the 15th century, a woman named Jenah al-Qahira lived in Cairo, Egypt, and was known for her skills as a calligrapher and illustrator. Her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works adorned many manuscripts and were highly sought after by collectors and patrons of the arts.
Another notable figure with the name Jenah was Jenah al-Maghribi, who lived in the 16th century and was a celebrated navigator and explorer from the Maghreb region of North Africa. He is credited with charting new trade routes and expanding the reach of maritime exploration during his time.
Throughout history, the name Jenah has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, including literature, arts, sciences, and exploration. Its Arabic roots and association with the concept of paradise have imbued it with a sense of beauty, spirituality, and aspiration.
People
Jenah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenah 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
Jenah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 464 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenah 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 738,695 US residents.
Is Jenah a common name?
We classify Jenah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 476 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenah was 2008, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenah is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 469 people with the name Jenah, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,580 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 Jenah 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 Jenah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenah appears almost entirely female. Of the 461 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jenah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenah is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.4%). 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 Jenah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jenah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (326 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 Jenah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenah 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 Jenah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenah 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 Jenah 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 Jenah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.