Jeneva
A feminine name derived from the French city name Geneva, meaning "juniper berry."
Name Census estimates that about 743 living Americans carry the first name Jeneva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeneva today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeneva births was 1926 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeneva. 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
743
~ 1 in 461,311 Americans
Peak year
1926
29 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,272
Tracked since 1905
Popularity
Jeneva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeneva from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 166 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeneva 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 Jeneva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenevas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Jeneva, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeneva
The name Jeneva has its roots in the ancient Roman culture, originating from the Latin word "Genovefa," which means "woman of the race." This name gained popularity during the early medieval period, particularly in regions that were once part of the Roman Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to Saint Genevieve, the patroness of Paris, who lived in the 5th century AD. Born around 422 AD in Nanterre, near Paris, Saint Genevieve played a crucial role in the defense of the city against the Huns led by Attila. Her bravery and faith inspired many, and she is revered as a symbol of courage and protection.
In the 6th century, a variation of the name, "Jenever," appeared in the Frankish Kingdom, which covered parts of modern-day France, Germany, and the Low Countries. This form of the name was particularly popular among the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Franks from the 5th to the 8th centuries.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jeneva was Jeneva of Brabant, a 13th-century Duchess of Brabant and Countess of Holland. She played a significant role in the political landscape of the Low Countries during her reign from 1212 to 1234.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jeneva gained popularity in Italy, where it was sometimes spelled as "Ginevra." One famous bearer of this name was Ginevra de' Benci, an Italian Renaissance noblewoman who was the subject of a famous portrait painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1474.
In the 17th century, the name Jeneva appeared in England, where it was sometimes anglicized as "Geneva." One notable figure was Lady Geneva Wale, an English courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, who lived from around 1550 to 1625.
Over the centuries, the name Jeneva has been borne by many other notable individuals, including Jeneva Gordon, a 19th-century American novelist and playwright, and Jeneva A. Stone, an American lawyer and politician who served as the first woman Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the 1950s.
People
Jeneva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeneva 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
Jeneva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeneva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 743 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeneva 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 461,311 US residents.
Is Jeneva a common name?
We classify Jeneva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,056 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeneva most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeneva was 1926, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeneva is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jeneva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeneva 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.
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.