Jenese
A feminine name of English origin, derived from the French "Genèse" meaning "Genesis".
Name Census estimates that about 143 living Americans carry the first name Jenese. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenese today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenese births was 1980 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenese. 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
143
~ 1 in 2,396,883 Americans
Peak year
1980
17 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1997 SSA rank
#12,761
Tracked since 1954
Census
Jenese in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Jenese, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenese
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenese is Black at 52.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.1%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Jenese 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 Jenese at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.9% · 147
- White33.1% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 25
- Two or more races3.2% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Jenese: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenese from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 70 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Jenese remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jenese 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 Jenese 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 Jenese
The name Jenese has its origins in ancient Greece, tracing back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "genos," which means "race" or "family." The name was initially used to refer to a person's lineage or ancestry, emphasizing the importance of family ties and heritage in Greek culture.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Jenese can be found in the works of the Greek historian Herodotus. He mentioned a woman named Jenese who played a significant role in the Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire in 499 BC. This historical reference suggests that the name was in use during the classical period of ancient Greece.
In the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century AD, the name Jenese gained popularity among the aristocracy. One notable figure was Jenese Palaiologina, a Byzantine princess born in 1270. She was the daughter of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and played a crucial role in the political intrigues of her time.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jenese resurfaced in Italy. Jenese Boccaccio, born in 1313, was a renowned Italian author and poet best known for his masterpiece, "The Decameron." His works had a significant impact on the development of Italian literature and influenced writers across Europe.
In the 19th century, Jenese Curie, born in 1867, was a pioneering Polish physicist and chemist. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win it twice, once in physics and once in chemistry. Her groundbreaking work on radioactivity and the discovery of radium and polonium forever changed the field of science.
Another notable figure was Jenese Akhmatova, a Russian poet born in 1889. She was one of the most acclaimed writers of the Silver Age of Russian poetry and is considered one of the greatest lyric poets of the 20th century. Her works explored themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human existence, resonating with readers across generations.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Jenese, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Jenese + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenese 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
Jenese: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenese?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 143 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenese 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 2,396,883 US residents.
Is Jenese a common name?
We classify Jenese as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 157 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenese most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenese was 1980, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenese is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jenese in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Jenese, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Jenese 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 Jenese?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenese appears almost entirely female. Of the 275 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 Jenese?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenese is Black at 52.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.1%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Jenese most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jenese in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.9% (147 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 Jenese in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenese a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenese 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 Jenese still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenese 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 Jenese 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 Jenese?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.