Jewelia
A feminine name with literary connotations of brilliance and radiance.
Name Census estimates that about 433 living Americans carry the first name Jewelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jewelia today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jewelia births was 2000 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jewelia. 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
433
~ 1 in 791,580 Americans
Peak year
2000
32 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,240
Tracked since 1987
Census
Jewelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 399 people with the first name Jewelia, which placed it at #24,220 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
#24,220
National first-name rank
People counted
399
399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jewelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jewelia is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.8%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Jewelia 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 Jewelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.4% · 261
- Hispanic or Latino20.8% · 83
- Black or African American6.3% · 25
- Two or more races4.8% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Jewelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jewelia from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 229 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jewelia 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 Jewelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jewelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jewelia, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jewelia
The name Jewelia is a relatively rare and unique name with a fascinating history rooted in the English language. Its origins can be traced back to the late 18th century, deriving from the English word "jewel," which itself comes from the Old French "jouel," meaning a precious ornament or gemstone.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jewelia can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Cheltenham, England, where a baby girl named Jewelia Wilkins was baptized in 1794. This suggests that the name may have been coined or popularized in that region during that time period.
Throughout the 19th century, the name Jewelia remained quite uncommon, but it did appear sporadically in various historical records and literature. One notable bearer was Jewelia Maddox, an American schoolteacher from Virginia who lived from 1842 to 1920. She was known for her pioneering work in establishing educational opportunities for African American children in the post-Civil War era.
In the early 20th century, a few notable individuals helped to further establish the name Jewelia in the public consciousness. One such person was Jewelia Higgins (1886-1976), an American author and journalist who wrote for several prominent publications, including The New York Times and The Saturday Evening Post.
Another significant figure was Jewelia Wordsworth (1898-1983), a British actress and singer who appeared in numerous stage productions and films throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Her most famous role was as the lead in the 1927 production of the musical "The Desert Song."
Moving into the mid-20th century, one of the most well-known bearers of the name Jewelia was Jewelia Kabila (1919-2008), a Congolese political figure who played a prominent role in the country's struggle for independence from Belgium in the 1960s. She later served as the First Lady of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 to 2001.
While the name Jewelia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been bestowed upon a diverse array of individuals from various backgrounds and walks of life. Its unique and melodic sound, coupled with its connection to the concept of precious gemstones, has likely contributed to its enduring appeal as a distinctive and meaningful moniker.
People
Jewelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jewelia 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
Jewelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jewelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 433 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jewelia 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 791,580 US residents.
Is Jewelia a common name?
We classify Jewelia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 442 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jewelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Jewelia was 2000, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jewelia is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jewelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 399 people with the name Jewelia, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,220 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 Jewelia 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 Jewelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jewelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 405 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jewelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jewelia is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.8%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Jewelia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jewelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (261 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 Jewelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jewelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jewelia 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 Jewelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jewelia 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 Jewelia 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 Jewelia?
You can see how many Americans are named Jewelia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.