Jill
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially meaning "youthful" or "little girl".
Name Census estimates that about 170,298 living Americans carry the first name Jill. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jill today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jill births was 1966 (7,885 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jill. 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 Jill with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Jill is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 501 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Jill have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
170K
~ 1 in 2,013 Americans
Peak year
1966
7,885 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1987 SSA rank
#6,246
Tracked since 1906
Census
Jill in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 194,542 people with the first name Jill, which placed it at #285 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
#285
National first-name rank
People counted
195K
194,542 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
64.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jill
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jill is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Jill 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 Jill at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 182,373
- Black or African American1.6% · 3,150
- Two or more races1.6% · 3,109
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 2,966
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 2,409
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 535
Gender
Gender distribution for Jill
Out of the 208,553 babies given the name Jill since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Jill as a male name
- Ranked #7,507 in 1987
- 5 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1965 (26 births)
Jill as a female name
- Ranked #6,246 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1966 (7,870 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jill appears almost entirely female. Of the 194,537 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Jill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jill from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 69,310 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jill 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 Jill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jills live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jill, while Alaska, Wyoming, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,027 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jill
The name Jill is a diminutive form of the feminine given name Gillian, which is derived from the masculine name Julian. The name Julian has its origins in the Roman family name Julianus, which was derived from the name Julius. Julius was a prominent Roman family name, believed to be related to the Greek word ioulos, meaning "downy-bearded."
The name Jill gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in England and other parts of Europe. It was often used as a shortened version of Gillian, which was a common name during that time period. The earliest recorded instance of the name Jill can be found in the 14th century English poem "The Vision of Piers Plowman" by William Langland.
In literature, one of the most famous references to the name Jill is in the nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill," which dates back to the 18th century. The rhyme depicts the characters Jack and Jill going up a hill to fetch a pail of water, with Jill famously taking a tumble.
Historically, several notable individuals have borne the name Jill. One of the earliest was Jill of Barnstaple, a 14th-century English nun known for her piety and charitable works. Another notable figure was Jill Ker Conway (1934-2018), an Australian-American scholar and author who served as the first female president of Smith College.
In the realm of entertainment, Jill St. John (born 1940) is an American actress and former singer, known for her roles in films such as "Diamonds Are Forever" and "The Nutty Professor." Jill Clayburgh (1944-2010) was an American actress and Academy Award nominee, acclaimed for her performances in movies like "An Unmarried Woman" and "Starting Over."
Jill Dando (1961-1999) was a British journalist and television presenter, tragically murdered in 1999. Her death received widespread media attention and sparked a major investigation, though her killer was never conclusively identified.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Jill throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jill
People
Jill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jill 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
Jill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 170,298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jill 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 2,013 US residents.
Is Jill a common name?
We classify Jill as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 208,553 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jill most popular?
The single biggest year for Jill was 1966, when 7,885 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jill is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jill in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 194,542 people with the name Jill, or 64.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #285 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 Jill 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 Jill?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jill appears almost entirely female. Of the 194,537 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Jill?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jill is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Jill most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jill in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (182,373 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 Jill in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jill a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Jill 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 Jill still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jill 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 Jill 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 Jill?
See how many people share the name Jill on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.