Jeremey
Of Old Testament Hebrew origin, meaning "appointed by God".
Name Census estimates that about 3,264 living Americans carry the first name Jeremey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeremey today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeremey births was 1979 (177 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeremey. 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
3.3K
~ 1 in 105,011 Americans
Peak year
1979
177 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,523
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jeremey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,890 people with the first name Jeremey, which placed it at #5,766 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
#5,766
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,890 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeremey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeremey is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Jeremey 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 Jeremey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.3% · 2,089
- Black or African American11.9% · 344
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 250
- Two or more races4.5% · 130
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 34
Popularity
Jeremey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeremey from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,273 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
Jeremey 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 Jeremey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeremeys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jeremey, while South Carolina, Minnesota, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeremey
The name Jeremey originates from the Hebrew name Yirmeyahu, which means "appointed by God" or "Yahweh exalts." It is a variant spelling of the more common name Jeremy. The name can be traced back to the biblical prophet Jeremiah, who lived in the 7th century BC in ancient Judah.
The book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament is named after the prophet, who was called by God to deliver warnings and prophecies to the people of Judah. Jeremiah's name is mentioned numerous times throughout the book, solidifying its historical and religious significance.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jeremey dates back to the late 16th century in England. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Jeremey Stephens, an English clergyman who lived from 1592 to 1665.
Another notable figure named Jeremey was Jeremey Bentham, an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer who lived from 1748 to 1832. He is best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism and his contributions to the fields of legal theory and social reform.
In the literary world, Jeremey Collier, an English writer and non-juror, lived from 1650 to 1726. He is renowned for his critiques of the English stage and his efforts to reform the theater.
Moving to the realm of science, Jeremey Bingham was a British botanist who lived from 1796 to 1856. He made significant contributions to the study of plants and is credited with discovering several new species.
Finally, in the field of art, Jeremey Deller is a contemporary English conceptual artist known for his socially engaged and participatory works. He was born in 1966 and continues to create thought-provoking installations and performances.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Jeremey, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines.
People
Jeremey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeremey 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
Jeremey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeremey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,264 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeremey 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 105,011 US residents.
Is Jeremey a common name?
We classify Jeremey as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeremey most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeremey was 1979, when 177 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeremey is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeremey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,890 people with the name Jeremey, or 0.96 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,766 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 Jeremey 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 Jeremey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeremey appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,884 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jeremey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeremey is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (8.7%). 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 Jeremey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeremey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (2,089 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 Jeremey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeremey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeremey in the SSA data are male. 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 Jeremey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeremey 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 Jeremey 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 Jeremey?
Want to know how many Americans are named Jeremey? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.