Jerelene
A feminine name possibly derived from a combination of Jerel and Lena.
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Jerelene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jerelene today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerelene births was 1939 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerelene. 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
- • The typical person named Jerelene is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Jerelenes were born before 1957.
People living today
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
1939
19 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#7,029
Tracked since 1921
Census
Jerelene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 189 people with the first name Jerelene, which placed it at #39,747 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
#39,747
National first-name rank
People counted
189
189 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerelene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerelene is Black at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (27.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Jerelene 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 Jerelene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.2% · 127
- White27.5% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 4
- Two or more races1.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Jerelene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerelene from the 1920s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 140 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jerelene 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 Jerelene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jerelenes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jerelene
The given name Jerelene is a unique and relatively uncommon name, and its origins and history are somewhat obscure. Linguists and onomastic experts believe that the name may have its roots in a combination of the French and English languages, blending elements from both linguistic traditions.
One theory suggests that Jerelene is derived from the French name Geraldine, which itself is a feminine form of the Germanic name Gerald, meaning "ruler of the spear." The name Geraldine was popularized in medieval France and England and has been used as a given name for centuries. It is possible that Jerelene emerged as a variant or diminutive form of Geraldine, perhaps through regional pronunciation or spelling variations.
Another possibility is that Jerelene is a portmanteau or a blend of two existing names, such as Jere (a shortened form of Jeremy or Jeremiah) and Lene (a diminutive of Helena or Magdalene). This combination of name elements could have occurred organically or been constructed intentionally, reflecting the creative naming practices of certain communities or cultures.
Historically, the earliest recorded instances of the name Jerelene are relatively recent, dating back to the late 19th or early 20th century. One notable figure bearing this name was Jerelene Evelyn Ramsey (1918-2003), an American philanthropist and activist from Texas who advocated for various social causes, including education and civil rights. Another individual with this first name was Jerelene Batipsta (1922-2008), a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her work in bronze and steel.
In the literary realm, Jerelene is the name of a character in the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, published in 1970. This fictional character is described as a young African American girl, highlighting the use of the name within certain cultural contexts. Additionally, Jerelene Nunnally (1924-2001) was an American politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1972 to 1982, making her a notable figure in the political history of her state.
While the name Jerelene may not have a long and well-documented history compared to more common names, its uniqueness and the stories of the individuals who have borne it contribute to its significance and add to the richness of onomastic diversity.
People
Jerelene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerelene 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
Jerelene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerelene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerelene 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Jerelene a common name?
We classify Jerelene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 349 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerelene most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerelene was 1939, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerelene is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerelene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 189 people with the name Jerelene, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,747 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 Jerelene 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 Jerelene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerelene appears almost entirely female. Of the 191 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 Jerelene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerelene is Black at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (27.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Jerelene most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jerelene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (127 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 Jerelene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerelene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jerelene 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 Jerelene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerelene 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 Jerelene 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 Jerelene?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.