Ji
A unisex name of Chinese origin meaning "auspicious" or "lucky".
Name Census estimates that about 396 living Americans carry the first name Ji. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Ji today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ji births was 1991 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ji. 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 Ji with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
396
~ 1 in 865,541 Americans
Peak year
1991
21 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,909
Tracked since 1967
Census
Ji in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,232 people with the first name Ji, which placed it at #4,427 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
#4,427
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,232 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ji
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Ji 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 Ji at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.6% · 3,918
- White4.5% · 190
- Black or African American1.3% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 42
- Two or more races0.6% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Ji
Ji is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 414 total registrations, 163 (39.4%) were male and 251 (60.6%) were female.
Ji as a male name
- Ranked #13,120 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (10 births)
Ji as a female name
- Ranked #12,909 in 2006
- 8 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1991 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ji on both sides of the split. Of the 4,235 people counted with this name, 1,729 were male (40.8%) and 2,506 were female (59.2%).
Popularity
Ji: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ji from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 143 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ji 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 Ji during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ji
The name Ji originates from Chinese culture, and its earliest recorded use can be traced back to ancient Chinese texts and historical records. The name is derived from the Chinese character "吉," which means "good luck" or "auspicious."
One of the earliest references to the name Ji can be found in the Chinese classic text, the "Book of Changes" (I Ching), which dates back to the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE). In this ancient divination text, the character "吉" is used to represent positive and favorable outcomes.
The name Ji has also been associated with notable figures throughout Chinese history. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Ji Xingsheng (574–671 CE), a renowned Buddhist monk and calligrapher during the Tang Dynasty. Another notable figure was Ji Xiaolan (1724–1805), a prominent scholar and literary critic during the Qing Dynasty.
In Japan, the name Ji is often written as "治," which can mean "govern" or "rule." This Japanese variant of the name has been borne by several notable individuals, including Ji Naozō (1887–1982), a prominent Japanese philosopher and educator.
Outside of East Asia, the name Ji has also been used in other cultures, although its origins and meanings may differ. For example, in India, the name Ji can be a shortened form of names like Jitendra or Jitesh, which are derived from Sanskrit roots.
Throughout history, the name Ji has been borne by various individuals across different cultures and contexts. Some notable examples include Ji Shizhen (1518–1593), a renowned Chinese pharmacologist and herbalist during the Ming Dynasty; Ji Torigen (1313–1355), a Mongolian military leader and the last ruler of the Yuan Dynasty; and Ji Gong (circa 1130–1207), a renowned Chinese Buddhist monk and folk figure revered for his unconventional teachings and acts of charity.
Overall, the name Ji has a rich cultural heritage, with its roots firmly planted in ancient Chinese traditions and its branches extending to other regions and cultures over time.
People
Ji + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ji 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
Ji: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ji?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ji 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 865,541 US residents.
Is Ji a common name?
We classify Ji as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 414 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ji most popular?
The single biggest year for Ji was 1991, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ji is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ji in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,232 people with the name Ji, or 1.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,427 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 Ji 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 Ji?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ji on both sides of the split. Of the 4,235 people counted with this name, 1,729 were male (40.8%) and 2,506 were female (59.2%). 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 Ji?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Ji most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ji in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (3,918 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 Ji in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ji a female name?
Yes, 60.6% of people registered as Ji 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 Ji still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ji 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 Ji 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 common is the name Ji?
Find out how many people have the name Ji on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.