Jennett
Diminutive form of Jane, a feminine name of English origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 257 living Americans carry the first name Jennett. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jennett today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jennett births was 1920 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jennett. 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
257
~ 1 in 1,333,674 Americans
Peak year
1920
17 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1992 SSA rank
#9,874
Tracked since 1892
Census
Jennett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 361 people with the first name Jennett, which placed it at #26,014 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
#26,014
National first-name rank
People counted
361
361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jennett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jennett is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.0%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Jennett 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 Jennett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.3% · 160
- Black or African American33.0% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino13.6% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 16
- Two or more races3.6% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Jennett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jennett from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jennett 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 Jennett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jennetts live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jennett
The name Jennett is believed to have its origins in the medieval English and Scottish forms of the name Jane, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Johanna or Yohannah, meaning "God is gracious." It was a popular name during the Middle Ages, particularly in England and Scotland.
In the 13th century, the name Jennett emerged as a diminutive or pet form of Jane, similar to the way Jenny is used today. It was often spelled as Jennet, Jennette, or Jennet, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jennett can be found in the Chronicles of Lanercost, a 13th-century historical record from northern England, which mentions a woman named Jennett de Somerville in the year 1279.
In the 14th century, a notable figure named Jennett Renice (c. 1310 - 1345) was a Scottish noblewoman who played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence. She was the wife of Sir Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.
During the 15th century, the name Jennett was particularly popular in Scotland, where it was often associated with the aristocracy and landed gentry. One famous bearer of the name was Jennett Hepburn (c. 1450 - 1508), who was the mother of James IV, King of Scots.
Another notable figure from this era was Jennett Muir (c. 1460 - 1520), a Scottish noblewoman who was influential in the court of James IV and served as a lady-in-waiting to his wife, Margaret Tudor.
In the 16th century, the name Jennett remained prevalent in Scotland, although its popularity began to decline in England. One notable bearer of the name was Jennett Calderwood (c. 1530 - 1595), a Scottish woman who was accused of witchcraft during the North Berwick witch trials of the 1590s.
While the name Jennett has become less common in modern times, it continues to hold historical significance, particularly in Scotland, where it remains a reminder of the country's rich cultural heritage and the important role women played in shaping its history.
People
Jennett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jennett 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
Jennett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jennett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 257 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jennett 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 1,333,674 US residents.
Is Jennett a common name?
We classify Jennett as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 595 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jennett most popular?
The single biggest year for Jennett was 1920, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jennett is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jennett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 361 people with the name Jennett, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,014 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 Jennett 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 Jennett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jennett appears almost entirely female. Of the 357 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 Jennett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jennett is White at 44.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.0%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Jennett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jennett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.3% (160 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 Jennett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jennett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jennett 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 Jennett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jennett 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 Jennett 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 Americans are named Jennett?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.