Jeniece
A feminine name meaning "God is gracious", derived from the French form of the biblical name Jennet.
Name Census estimates that about 470 living Americans carry the first name Jeniece. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeniece today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeniece births was 1993 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeniece. 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
470
~ 1 in 729,265 Americans
Peak year
1993
22 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2015 SSA rank
#17,643
Tracked since 1953
Census
Jeniece in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 509 people with the first name Jeniece, which placed it at #20,333 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
#20,333
National first-name rank
People counted
509
509 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeniece
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeniece is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (36.5%) and Hispanic (19.6%). 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 Jeniece 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 Jeniece at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.1% · 199
- White36.5% · 186
- Hispanic or Latino19.6% · 100
- Two or more races2.8% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Jeniece: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeniece from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 176 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
Jeniece 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 Jeniece during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenieces live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Jeniece, while New York, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeniece
The given name Jeniece is a relatively modern feminine name that traces its origins to the late 20th century. It is believed to be a variant or combination of the names Jennifer and Denise, both of which have roots in ancient languages.
Jennifer is derived from the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which means "fair and smooth." This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and was later anglicized to Jennifer. Denise, on the other hand, has its roots in the Greek name Dionysia, derived from the name of the Greek god Dionysus.
While Jeniece itself does not have a long historical lineage, its component names have been present in various cultures throughout history. Jennifer, for instance, has been referenced in medieval Welsh literature and folklore, while Denise has connections to early Christian saints and martyrs.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jeniece was Jeniece Gillespie, an American actress born in 1965. She appeared in several television shows and films during the 1980s and 1990s, including "Designing Women" and "Fried Green Tomatoes."
Another notable Jeniece was Jeniece Kemp, an American basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) during the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was born in 1975 and played for teams like the Phoenix Mercury and the Detroit Shock.
In the field of music, Jeniece Roverso is a Canadian singer and songwriter born in 1975. She has released several albums and has been recognized for her contributions to the contemporary Christian music genre.
Jeniece Hawkins, born in 1971, is an American author and motivational speaker known for her work on personal development and self-empowerment.
Lastly, Jeniece Trotter, born in 1973, is a former American track and field athlete who specialized in sprinting events. She competed in the Olympic Games and won several medals at international competitions during her career.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name Jeniece has gained a foothold in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its unique blend of historical names and modern flair has contributed to its growing popularity as a given name for girls.
People
Jeniece + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeniece 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
Jeniece: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeniece?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 470 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeniece 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 729,265 US residents.
Is Jeniece a common name?
We classify Jeniece as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeniece most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeniece was 1993, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeniece is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeniece in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 509 people with the name Jeniece, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,333 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 Jeniece 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 Jeniece?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeniece appears almost entirely female. Of the 512 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 Jeniece?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeniece is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (36.5%) and Hispanic (19.6%). 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 Jeniece most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jeniece in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.1% (199 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 Jeniece in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeniece a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeniece 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 Jeniece still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeniece 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 Jeniece 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 Jeniece as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Jeniece, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.