Jerae
A masculine name derived from the Hebrew word Yara, meaning "he descends" or "he shoots".
Name Census estimates that about 64 living Americans carry the first name Jerae. It is a predominantly female name (91.0% of registrations). The average person named Jerae today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerae births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerae. 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 Jerae. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
64
~ 1 in 5,355,537 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,402
Tracked since 1982
Census
Jerae in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 154 people with the first name Jerae, which placed it at #44,677 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
#44,677
National first-name rank
People counted
154
154 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerae
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerae is Black at 53.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Jerae 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 Jerae at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.9% · 83
- White24.0% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 13
- Two or more races8.4% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Jerae
Jerae leans heavily female at 91.0% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jerae as a male name
- Ranked #7,402 in 1989
- 6 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (6 births)
Jerae as a female name
- Ranked #16,464 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1989 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jerae on both sides of the split. Of the 157 people counted with this name, 41 were male (26.1%) and 116 were female (73.9%).
Popularity
Jerae: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerae from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 36 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
Jerae 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 Jerae 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 Jerae
The given name Jerae is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages in human history, dating back to around 3000 BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Sumerian words "je" meaning "life" and "rae" meaning "radiant" or "shining." The name was primarily used in the region of Mesopotamia, which is now modern-day Iraq.
While there is limited historical evidence of the name's earliest usage, it is believed to have been associated with certain Sumerian deities or celestial bodies revered in their religion. Some scholars suggest that the name may have been used to describe the radiant light of the sun or the glow of the moon, which were both central figures in Sumerian mythology.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jerae can be found in a collection of Sumerian cuneiform tablets from the city of Ur, dated around 2500 BCE. These tablets mention a high priestess named Jerae who was revered for her wisdom and spiritual guidance.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jerae, although their exact years of birth and death are often uncertain. One such figure was Jerae of Nineveh, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh around the 7th century BCE. He was known for his writings on astronomy and mathematics.
Another notable Jerae was a Greek poet and playwright who lived in the 5th century BCE. While little is known about her personal life, several fragments of her tragic plays have survived, providing insights into the cultural and literary traditions of ancient Greece.
In the medieval period, there was a celebrated Jerae who was a renowned calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts in the Byzantine Empire. Her intricate and ornate works of art adorned various religious texts and documents, and she was highly regarded for her skill and creativity.
During the Renaissance era, a Jerae from Florence, Italy, gained recognition as a talented sculptor and architect. She was commissioned to design several notable buildings and public monuments, which still stand as testaments to her artistic prowess.
Finally, in the 18th century, a Jerae from the Ottoman Empire was a respected scholar and theologian who wrote extensively on Islamic philosophy and jurisprudence. Her works were widely studied and influential in shaping intellectual discourse in the region.
People
Jerae + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerae 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
Jerae: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerae?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerae 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 5,355,537 US residents.
Is Jerae a common name?
We classify Jerae as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 67 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerae most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerae was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerae is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerae in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 154 people with the name Jerae, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,677 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 Jerae 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 Jerae?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jerae on both sides of the split. Of the 157 people counted with this name, 41 were male (26.1%) and 116 were female (73.9%). 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 Jerae?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerae is Black at 53.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.0%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Jerae most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jerae in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (83 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 Jerae in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerae a female name?
Yes, 91.0% of people registered as Jerae 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 Jerae still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerae 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 Jerae 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 called Jerae?
You can see how many people share the name Jerae on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.