Jenilee
A modern feminine name, a combination of Jennifer and Lee.
Name Census estimates that about 762 living Americans carry the first name Jenilee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jenilee today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jenilee births was 1982 (192 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jenilee. 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
762
~ 1 in 449,809 Americans
Peak year
1982
192 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,036
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jenilee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 732 people with the first name Jenilee, which placed it at #15,649 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
#15,649
National first-name rank
People counted
732
732 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jenilee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenilee is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%). 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 Jenilee 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 Jenilee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.9% · 468
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 144
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.2% · 60
- Two or more races4.4% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 15
- Black or African American1.8% · 13
Popularity
Jenilee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jenilee from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 656 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
Jenilee 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 Jenilee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenilees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Jenilee, while Minnesota, Iowa, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jenilee
The name Jenilee is a modern English variant of the French name Geneviève, which is derived from the Breton Celtic name Gwenafwy. Gwenafwy is composed of the elements "gwen" meaning "fair, white" and "aw" meaning "radiant, blessed." The name was introduced to France during the 5th century AD by Celtic Christian missionaries and saints.
The name Geneviève gained widespread popularity across Europe due to the veneration of the 5th-century saint, Sainte Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris. She is credited with leading the defense of the city against the Huns and is said to have performed numerous miracles. Her feast day is celebrated on January 3rd.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jenilee can be traced back to the late 20th century, where it emerged as a modern English variation of the traditional French name Geneviève. The addition of the suffix "-lee" was likely an attempt to create a more unique and distinctive name.
Historically, the name Jenilee does not appear to have been widely used, and there are few notable figures bearing this name. One of the earliest notable individuals with this name is Jenilee Harrison, an American actress, and model born in 1959. She is best known for her roles in various television shows and films throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Another notable Jenilee is Jenilee Reyes, a Filipino singer, and actress born in 1986. She has appeared in several television shows and movies in the Philippines and has released several albums.
Jenilee Churchill, born in 1983, is a Canadian track and field athlete who has represented Canada in international competitions, specializing in the heptathlon and pentathlon events.
Jenilee Carr is an Australian author and illustrator of children's books, known for her work in promoting literacy and diversity in literature. She was born in 1978.
Jenilee Taylor is an American artist and painter, known for her abstract expressionist works. She was born in 1957 and has exhibited her art in various galleries across the United States.
While the name Jenilee is a relatively modern variation, it carries the essence of the centuries-old Celtic name Gwenafwy, evoking qualities of radiance, fairness, and blessedness. Despite its relatively recent emergence, it has gained popularity as a unique and distinctive name choice in various parts of the world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jenilee
People
Jenilee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jenilee 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
Jenilee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jenilee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 762 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jenilee 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 449,809 US residents.
Is Jenilee a common name?
We classify Jenilee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 806 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jenilee most popular?
The single biggest year for Jenilee was 1982, when 192 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jenilee 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 Jenilee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 732 people with the name Jenilee, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,649 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 Jenilee 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 Jenilee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jenilee appears almost entirely female. Of the 727 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 Jenilee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jenilee is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.2%). 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 Jenilee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jenilee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.9% (468 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 Jenilee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jenilee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jenilee 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 Jenilee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jenilee 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 Jenilee 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 are named Jenilee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.