Jeniel
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is merciful".
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the first name Jeniel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeniel today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeniel births was 2012 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeniel. 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
127
~ 1 in 2,698,853 Americans
Peak year
2012
19 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,091
Tracked since 2009
Census
Jeniel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 295 people with the first name Jeniel, which placed it at #29,826 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
#29,826
National first-name rank
People counted
295
295 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeniel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeniel is Hispanic at 64.4%. The next largest groups are White (19.7%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Jeniel 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 Jeniel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.4% · 190
- White19.7% · 58
- Black or African American12.9% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 7
- Two or more races0.7% · 2
Popularity
Jeniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeniel from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 98 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeniel 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 Jeniel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeniels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeniel
The name Jeniel is of Hebrew origin and is believed to have emerged during the biblical era. It is a combination of two Hebrew words: "Yah," which is a shortened form of the name of God, and "El," meaning "God." Thus, the name Jeniel can be interpreted as "God's gift" or "God has given."
One of the earliest recorded appearances of the name Jeniel is in the Book of Chronicles, a historical record in the Hebrew Bible. It is mentioned as the name of a Levite, a member of the Hebrew tribe dedicated to religious service.
In the Middle Ages, the name Jeniel gained popularity among Jewish communities across Europe. It was often associated with scholarly individuals and those who devoted their lives to the study of the Torah and other sacred texts.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jeniel made its way into various European languages, including French and German, where it was adapted to fit the local linguistic traditions. In France, it was sometimes spelled as "Jenielle," while in Germany, it was rendered as "Jeniel."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jeniel was Jeniel ben Abraham (1155-1230), a renowned Jewish scholar and philosopher from Provence, France. He was known for his contributions to the study of Jewish mysticism and his commentaries on the Torah.
Another notable figure was Jeniel de Castro (1550-1620), a Portuguese-born Sephardic Jew who lived in Amsterdam. He was a prominent merchant and played a significant role in the development of the Jewish community in the Netherlands.
In the 18th century, Jeniel Behrend (1715-1785) was a German-Jewish scholar and author who published works on Jewish law and philosophy. He was highly respected within the Jewish intellectual circles of his time.
Moving into the 19th century, Jeniel Rapoport (1820-1887) was a Russian-born Hebrew scholar and author. He made significant contributions to the study of Hebrew literature and was instrumental in establishing the scientific study of Jewish history and culture.
In more recent times, Jeniel Rasheen (1937-2018) was an American civil rights activist and author. He was actively involved in the struggle for racial equality and wrote extensively on issues of social justice and human rights.
While the name Jeniel has its roots in the Hebrew tradition, it has transcended cultural and religious boundaries, becoming a name that is recognized and appreciated across various communities worldwide.
People
Jeniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeniel 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
Jeniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 127 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeniel 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 2,698,853 US residents.
Is Jeniel a common name?
We classify Jeniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeniel was 2012, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeniel is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeniel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 295 people with the name Jeniel, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,826 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 Jeniel 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 Jeniel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jeniel on both sides of the split. Of the 298 people counted with this name, 194 were male (65.1%) and 104 were female (34.9%). 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 Jeniel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeniel is Hispanic at 64.4%. The next largest groups are White (19.7%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Jeniel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jeniel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.4% (190 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 Jeniel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeniel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeniel 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 Jeniel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeniel 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 Jeniel 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 Jeniel as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jeniel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.