Jensie
A feminine name derived from the French name Genevieve, meaning "white wave".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Jensie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jensie today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jensie births was 1915 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jensie. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jensie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1915
5 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,043
Tracked since 1915
Census
Jensie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 126 people with the first name Jensie, which placed it at #49,344 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
#49,344
National first-name rank
People counted
126
126 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jensie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jensie is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.8%) and Black (19.0%). 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 Jensie 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 Jensie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.2% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino23.8% · 30
- Black or African American19.0% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 5
- Two or more races2.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 2
Popularity
Jensie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jensie from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 10 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jensie 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 Jensie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jensie
The name Jensie is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Jens, which is derived from the Old Norse name Janis. The name Janis is believed to have originated from the Latin name Johannes, which means "Yahweh is gracious." The name Jensie is primarily used in the Netherlands and other parts of Northern Europe.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jensie can be found in the Dutch records dating back to the 16th century. During this time, the Netherlands was a major maritime power, and it is possible that the name was brought back by Dutch sailors who had encountered it in their travels.
In the 17th century, the name Jensie gained popularity among the Dutch Mennonite communities. The Mennonites were a Protestant religious group known for their pacifism and commitment to nonviolence. It is possible that the name Jensie was chosen for its association with the idea of grace and mercy.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Jensie was Jensie van der Meer (1628-1693), a Dutch artist known for her still-life paintings. She was a member of the Leiden Guild of St. Luke and was praised for her skilled depictions of flowers and fruit.
Another historical figure with the name Jensie was Jensie Ruitenberg (1772-1845), a Dutch merchant and philanthropist. He was born in Amsterdam and made his fortune in the textile trade. Ruitenberg was known for his charitable works and supported several orphanages and schools in his hometown.
In the 19th century, the name Jensie was also used in Norway. One notable Norwegian figure with this name was Jensie Kristine Hoegh (1836-1905), a pioneering educator and women's rights activist. She founded one of the first schools for girls in Norway and was a vocal advocate for women's suffrage.
Another historical figure with the name Jensie was Jensie Vaupel (1875-1942), a Danish artist and illustrator. She was known for her colorful and whimsical illustrations, which often depicted scenes from fairy tales and folklore. Vaupel's work was widely published in children's books and magazines throughout the early 20th century.
Finally, Jensie Gerhardina van der Wal (1901-1985) was a Dutch journalist and writer. She was a pioneer in the field of radio journalism and was one of the first women to host a radio program in the Netherlands. Van der Wal also published several novels and short stories, many of which explored themes of feminism and social justice.
People
Jensie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jensie 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
Jensie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jensie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jensie 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Jensie a common name?
We classify Jensie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jensie most popular?
The single biggest year for Jensie was 1915, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jensie is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jensie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 126 people with the name Jensie, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,344 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 Jensie 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 Jensie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jensie leans strongly female. 112 people counted with this name were female (86.8%), compared with 17 male bearers (13.2%). 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 Jensie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jensie is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.8%) and Black (19.0%). 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 Jensie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jensie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.2% (62 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 Jensie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jensie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jensie 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 Jensie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jensie 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 Jensie 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 Jensie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.