Jerri
A feminine diminutive form of the name Jeremiah or Gerard.
Name Census estimates that about 12,285 living Americans carry the first name Jerri. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Jerri today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerri births was 1957 (575 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerri. 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
- • Although Jerri is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 279 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 27,900 Americans
Peak year
1957
575 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2009 SSA rank
#13,347
Tracked since 1924
Census
Jerri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,515 people with the first name Jerri, which placed it at #2,134 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
#2,134
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,515 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerri is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Jerri 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 Jerri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 10,296
- Black or African American9.8% · 1,228
- Two or more races3.3% · 414
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 327
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 172
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 78
Gender
Gender distribution for Jerri
Jerri leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 279 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jerri as a male name
- Ranked #13,347 in 2009
- 5 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1959 (11 births)
Jerri as a female name
- Ranked #16,284 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1957 (565 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerri leans strongly female. 12,270 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 240 male bearers (1.9%).
Popularity
Jerri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerri from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,963 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
Jerri 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 Jerri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jerris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jerri, while District of Columbia, Nevada, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 297 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jerri
The name Jerri is a diminutive form of the name Gertrude, which has its origins in the Germanic languages. Gertrude is derived from the Old German words "ger" meaning spear and "trud" meaning strength or force. Historically, the name was associated with warrior culture and strength in battle.
Gertrude, from which Jerri is derived, has been a popular name throughout European history. It can be traced back to the 7th century, where it was recorded as the name of a Benedictine nun, Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, who lived from 628-659 AD. This early association with religious figures likely contributed to the name's continued use over the centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the diminutive form Jerri dates back to the 12th century, when it was used as a nickname for Gertrude. The name gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in England and other parts of Northern Europe.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Jerri or its variations. One example is Gertrude of Saxony (1030-1113), also known as Gertrude the Great, who was a powerful noble and regent in the Holy Roman Empire. Another is Gertrude of Helfta (1256-1302), a German mystic and writer known for her spiritual works.
In the 19th century, Jerri and its variations became more common, particularly in English-speaking countries. One notable figure from this time is Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), a British writer, traveler, and political officer who played a significant role in the establishment of modern Iraq.
Other notable individuals with the name Jerri or its variations include Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), an American writer and avant-garde literary figure known for her groundbreaking experimental works; and Gertrude Elion (1918-1999), an American biochemist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her contributions to the development of drugs for treating various diseases.
People
Jerri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerri 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
Jerri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerri 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 27,900 US residents.
Is Jerri a common name?
We classify Jerri as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,779 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerri most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerri was 1957, when 575 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerri is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,515 people with the name Jerri, or 4.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,134 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 Jerri 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 Jerri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerri leans strongly female. 12,270 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 240 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Jerri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerri is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Jerri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jerri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (10,296 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 Jerri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerri a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Jerri 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 Jerri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerri 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 Jerri 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 share the name Jerri?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.