Jerilee
A feminine name with uncertain origin, possibly a combination of names.
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Jerilee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jerilee today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerilee births was 1955 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerilee. 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
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
1955
11 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1987 SSA rank
#10,409
Tracked since 1942
Census
Jerilee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Jerilee, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerilee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerilee is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Jerilee 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 Jerilee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.3% · 216
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 29
- Black or African American4.5% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 13
- Two or more races3.8% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 5
Popularity
Jerilee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerilee from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 57 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Jerilee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jerilee 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 Jerilee 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 Jerilee
Jerilee is a modern English given name that appears to have originated in the 20th century. It is a combination of the names Jeri and Lee, with Jeri being a shortened form of the name Geraldine, which itself is derived from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "wald" meaning "ruler." The name Lee, on the other hand, has its roots in the Old English word "leah," meaning "meadow" or "clearing in the woods."
While the name Jerilee does not have a long historical lineage, it has been used as a given name for both males and females, primarily in English-speaking countries. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the early 20th century, but its popularity did not peak until the mid-20th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Jerilee was Jerilee Travis (1908-1983), an American singer and actress who was active in the 1930s and 1940s. She appeared in several films and television shows during her career.
Another individual with the name was Jerilee Zampino (born in the 1960s), an American actress and model who was briefly married to actor Eddie Murphy in the 1980s. She had a small role in the 1988 film "Coming to America."
In the field of music, there was Jerilee Klugh (born in the 1940s), an American singer and songwriter who was active in the 1960s and 1970s. She recorded several albums and singles during her career.
Jerilee Milbank (1905-1982) was an American socialite and philanthropist who was known for her involvement in various charitable organizations and her support of the arts.
Lastly, Jerilee Randall (born in the 1920s) was an American journalist and author who wrote several books on various topics, including parenting and child development.
While the name Jerilee has seen some use throughout the 20th century, it remains a relatively uncommon and unique name choice. Its origins as a combination of two shorter names give it a distinctive and modern feel.
People
Jerilee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerilee 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
Jerilee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerilee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerilee 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Jerilee a common name?
We classify Jerilee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerilee most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerilee was 1955, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerilee is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerilee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Jerilee, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Jerilee 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 Jerilee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerilee leans strongly female. 286 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Jerilee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerilee is White at 75.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Black (4.5%). 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 Jerilee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jerilee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.3% (216 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 Jerilee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerilee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jerilee 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 Jerilee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerilee 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 Jerilee 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 Jerilee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.