Jerusalem
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "foundation of peace".
Name Census estimates that about 446 living Americans carry the first name Jerusalem. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Jerusalem today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerusalem births was 2020 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerusalem. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jerusalem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
446
~ 1 in 768,507 Americans
Peak year
2020
29 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,529
Tracked since 1981
Census
Jerusalem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 538 people with the first name Jerusalem, which placed it at #19,583 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
#19,583
National first-name rank
People counted
538
538 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerusalem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerusalem is Black at 48.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.5%) and White (14.3%). 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 Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.1% · 259
- Hispanic or Latino24.5% · 132
- White14.3% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 40
- Two or more races5.0% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Jerusalem
Jerusalem is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 452 total registrations, 133 (29.4%) were male and 319 (70.6%) were female.
Jerusalem as a male name
- Ranked #11,529 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (11 births)
Jerusalem as a female name
- Ranked #16,285 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jerusalem on both sides of the split. Of the 542 people counted with this name, 143 were male (26.4%) and 399 were female (73.6%).
Popularity
Jerusalem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerusalem from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 176 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jerusalem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jerusalems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jerusalem
The given name Jerusalem is derived from the Hebrew name Yerushalayim, which means "city of peace" or "foundation of peace". The name has its origins in the ancient city of Jerusalem, one of the oldest cities in the world and a significant religious and cultural center for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jerusalem can be traced back to the Bible, where it is mentioned numerous times as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel and later, the Kingdom of Judah. The city is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, where it is referred to as Salem, and later in the Book of Joshua, where it is called Jebus.
Throughout history, the name Jerusalem has been associated with several significant figures, particularly in the context of religion and spirituality. One of the most notable figures is Jerusalem Jones (c. 1812-1880), an African-American Baptist preacher and abolitionist who was born into slavery and later became a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement.
Another notable figure with the name Jerusalem is Jerusalem Narindar Singh (1886-1972), an Indian spiritual leader and founder of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organization based in India. He was known for his teachings on the importance of meditation and self-realization.
In the field of literature, Jerusalem Conquering (1609-1670) was an English writer and poet who is best known for his work "The Tragedy of Jerusalem", a play that explored the themes of religious conflict and the fall of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Artie (1918-2003), an American singer and songwriter, was known for her contributions to the folk music scene in the 1960s and 1970s. She was a prominent figure in the Greenwich Village music scene and recorded several albums that celebrated the spirit of social justice and peace.
Lastly, Jerusalem Slim (1907-1970), an American blues singer and guitarist, was a influential figure in the Chicago blues scene in the 1930s and 1940s. He was known for his distinctive slide guitar playing style and his contributions to the development of the Chicago blues sound.
People
Jerusalem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerusalem 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
Jerusalem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerusalem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 446 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerusalem 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 768,507 US residents.
Is Jerusalem a common name?
We classify Jerusalem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 452 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerusalem most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerusalem was 2020, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerusalem is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerusalem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 538 people with the name Jerusalem, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,583 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 Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jerusalem on both sides of the split. Of the 542 people counted with this name, 143 were male (26.4%) and 399 were female (73.6%). 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 Jerusalem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerusalem is Black at 48.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.5%) and White (14.3%). 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 Jerusalem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jerusalem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.1% (259 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 Jerusalem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerusalem a female name?
Yes, 70.6% of people registered as Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem 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 Jerusalem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.