Jese
A variant of the name Jesse, derived from Hebrew meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Jese. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jese today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jese births was 2014 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jese. 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
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2014
33 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,356
Tracked since 1973
Census
Jese in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 511 people with the first name Jese, which placed it at #20,272 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
#20,272
National first-name rank
People counted
511
511 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
68.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jese
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jese is Hispanic at 68.5%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Jese 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 Jese at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino68.5% · 350
- White22.3% · 114
- Black or African American3.7% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 15
- Two or more races2.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Jese: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jese from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 139 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jese remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jese 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 Jese during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeses live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jese
The name Jese is believed to have its origins in the ancient Hebrew language. It is a variation of the name Jesse, which is derived from the Hebrew word "Ishai," meaning "gift" or "present." The name Jese is thought to have emerged during the biblical era and is closely associated with the Old Testament.
One of the earliest and most notable references to the name Jese can be found in the Book of Samuel, where it is used for Jesse, the father of the famous King David. According to the biblical account, Jesse was a humble shepherd from Bethlehem who was called upon by the prophet Samuel to present his sons for the anointing of a new king. Despite being overlooked initially, it was Jesse's youngest son, David, who was chosen to succeed Saul as the ruler of Israel.
Throughout history, the name Jese has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 12th century, Jese of Amiens was a French theologian and writer who authored several works on biblical exegesis. In the 16th century, Jese Tobias was a German composer and organist known for his contributions to the development of liturgical music.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jese gained prominence in the arts. Jese Michelangelo (1535-1606) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in the Mannerist style. He was the great-nephew of the renowned artist Michelangelo Buonarroti and is best known for his frescoes in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence.
In more recent times, Jese Owens (1913-1980) was an American track and field athlete who achieved international fame at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His remarkable performance, which included four gold medals, challenged the racial ideologies of Nazi Germany and became a symbol of hope and perseverance.
Another notable figure was Jese Jackson (1941-), an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement and later founded the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization dedicated to promoting social and economic justice.
While the name Jese may not be as common today as it once was, it remains a significant part of the historical and cultural tapestry, carrying with it a rich legacy and associations with individuals who have left an indelible mark on various aspects of human endeavor.
People
Jese + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jese 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
Jese: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jese?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jese 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Jese a common name?
We classify Jese as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% 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 Jese most popular?
The single biggest year for Jese was 2014, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jese is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jese in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 511 people with the name Jese, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,272 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 Jese 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 Jese?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jese leans strongly male. 470 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 33 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Jese?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jese is Hispanic at 68.5%. The next largest groups are White (22.3%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Jese most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jese in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.5% (350 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 Jese in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jese a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jese 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 Jese still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jese 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 Jese 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 Jese?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jese, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.