Jervis
A medieval diminutive form of Jarvis, from the Old French root "gare" meaning watchful.
Name Census estimates that about 186 living Americans carry the first name Jervis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jervis today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jervis births was 1924 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jervis. 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
186
~ 1 in 1,842,765 Americans
Peak year
1924
12 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,734
Tracked since 1921
Census
Jervis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 337 people with the first name Jervis, which placed it at #27,242 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
#27,242
National first-name rank
People counted
337
337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jervis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jervis is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.0%). 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 Jervis 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 Jervis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.8% · 188
- White22.0% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.0% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 20
- Two or more races3.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 8
Popularity
Jervis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jervis from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jervis 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 Jervis 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 Jervis
The name Jervis has its roots in the ancient French language. It originated as a surname derived from the Old French word "gerce" or "gerche," meaning a thicket or bramble. The name likely referred to someone who lived near or owned land with thick, dense vegetation.
In the 11th century, the name appeared in early historical records as "Gervase" or "Gervas," which were variants of the same name. Over time, the spelling evolved to "Jervis" in England, where it gained popularity as a given name.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Gervase of Canterbury, a 12th-century English monk and chronicler who wrote about the life of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Another notable figure was Jervis Markland (1693-1776), an English classical scholar and critic known for his work on ancient Greek and Latin texts.
In the 16th century, Sir Jervis Clifton (1515-1593) was a prominent English politician and member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He served as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1572 to 1573.
During the 17th century, Admiral Sir John Jervis (1735-1823) was a renowned British naval officer who played a crucial role in several victories against the French during the Napoleonic Wars. He was later elevated to the peerage as Earl of St. Vincent.
Another notable bearer of the name was Jervis McEntee (1828-1891), an American painter and founder of the Hudson River School art movement. He was known for his luminous landscape paintings depicting scenes from the Hudson Valley region.
Throughout history, the name Jervis has been associated with individuals who achieved distinction in various fields, including literature, politics, military service, and the arts. While its popularity has waxed and waned over time, the name continues to carry a rich historical legacy rooted in its French origins.
People
Jervis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jervis 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
Jervis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jervis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 186 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jervis 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 1,842,765 US residents.
Is Jervis a common name?
We classify Jervis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jervis most popular?
The single biggest year for Jervis was 1924, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jervis is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jervis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 337 people with the name Jervis, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,242 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 Jervis 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 Jervis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jervis leans strongly male. 329 people counted with this name were male (96.2%), compared with 13 female bearers (3.8%). 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 Jervis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jervis is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.0%). 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 Jervis most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jervis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (188 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 Jervis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jervis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jervis 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 Jervis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jervis 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 Jervis 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 Jervis?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Jervis on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.