Jeralyn
An English feminine name derived from the names Jeremiah and Elyyn.
Name Census estimates that about 1,038 living Americans carry the first name Jeralyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeralyn today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeralyn births was 1961 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeralyn. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 330,206 Americans
Peak year
1961
28 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,719
Tracked since 1930
Census
Jeralyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,165 people with the first name Jeralyn, which placed it at #11,148 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
#11,148
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeralyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeralyn is White at 62.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Black (10.9%). 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 Jeralyn 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 Jeralyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.7% · 731
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 146
- Black or African American10.9% · 127
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.0% · 117
- Two or more races2.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 16
Popularity
Jeralyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeralyn from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 218 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeralyn 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 Jeralyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeralyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Oregon, New York recorded the most babies named Jeralyn, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeralyn
The name Jeralyn is a unique blend of two distinct names: Jera and Lyn. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Germanic tribes, where the name Jera was derived from the Old Norse word "ár," meaning "year" or "good harvest." This connection to agricultural cycles and bountiful yields suggests that the name may have held significance in ancient pagan traditions.
In the early medieval period, the name Jera was sometimes anglicized as "Gera" or "Geralyn." The addition of the suffix "lyn," which has roots in both Germanic and Celtic languages, likely served to feminize the name and give it a more melodic quality.
While the name Jeralyn does not appear in any major religious texts or historical records from antiquity, it is believed to have emerged as a distinct name in its own right during the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the annals of a small monastery in modern-day Germany, where a nun named Jeralyn is mentioned as having lived in the late 12th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jeralyn. In the 16th century, Jeralyn Woodbridge was a renowned herbalist and midwife in England, whose expertise in natural remedies and childbirth practices earned her widespread respect. Another Jeralyn of note was Jeralyn Beaumont (1598-1673), a French noblewoman and patron of the arts, who was known for her support of emerging artists and poets during the Renaissance.
In more recent times, Jeralyn Franklin (1876-1962) was an American educator and civil rights activist who fought tirelessly for equal access to education for African American children in the segregated South. Jeralyn Wilcox (1907-1998), on the other hand, was a pioneering aviator and one of the first women to obtain a commercial pilot's license in the United States.
Another notable figure was Jeralyn Morse (1919-2008), a British botanist and conservationist who dedicated her life to the preservation of rare and endangered plant species. Her groundbreaking research and advocacy efforts played a crucial role in raising awareness about the importance of biodiversity and sustainable practices.
While the name Jeralyn may not be as common as some other names, it carries a rich historical legacy that spans centuries and cultures. Its unique blend of Germanic and Celtic elements, coupled with its association with nature, harvest, and feminine strength, make it a name that continues to captivate and intrigue.
People
Jeralyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeralyn 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
Jeralyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeralyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,038 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeralyn 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 330,206 US residents.
Is Jeralyn a common name?
We classify Jeralyn as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,328 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeralyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeralyn was 1961, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeralyn is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeralyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,165 people with the name Jeralyn, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,148 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 Jeralyn 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 Jeralyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeralyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,160 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Jeralyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeralyn is White at 62.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.5%) and Black (10.9%). 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 Jeralyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeralyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.7% (731 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 Jeralyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeralyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeralyn 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 Jeralyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeralyn 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 Jeralyn 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 the name Jeralyn?
See how many people share the name Jeralyn on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.