Jimson
Jimson is an English name derived from the poisonous plant known as jimson weed.
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Jimson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jimson today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jimson births was 2002 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jimson. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jimson. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2002
7 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2002 SSA rank
#8,887
Tracked since 1983
Census
Jimson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 149 people with the first name Jimson, which placed it at #45,514 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
#45,514
National first-name rank
People counted
149
149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jimson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jimson is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (17.4%). 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 Jimson 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 Jimson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander56.4% · 84
- Black or African American18.1% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native17.4% · 26
- White4.0% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 3
- Two or more races2.0% · 3
Popularity
Jimson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jimson from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 7 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jimson 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 Jimson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jimsons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jimson
The given name Jimson is an uncommon variant of the traditional name James, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Jacob. Jacob is derived from the root word "aqeb," meaning "to follow" or "to be behind." The name James emerged as the English form of the Latin name Iacobus, which stems from the Greek Iakobos, which in turn comes from the Hebrew Ya'aqov.
The name Jimson is believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, particularly in England and Scotland, during the late Middle Ages or Renaissance period. It was likely a regional variation or diminutive form of James, possibly influenced by local dialects or accents. The earliest recorded instances of the name Jimson date back to the 16th and 17th centuries in various parish records and historical documents from those regions.
While the name Jimson does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its root name James has a significant presence in the Bible. The most notable figure with this name is James the Great, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and the first of the apostles to be martyred.
Throughout history, several individuals have carried the first name Jimson, though it remains a relatively uncommon name. One notable example is Jimson Weed, a 17th-century English herbalist and author who wrote extensively about the medicinal properties of the plant known as Datura stramonium, commonly referred to as "Jimson weed" or "thorn apple."
Another individual of historical significance with the name Jimson was Jimson Hill (1738-1826), an American farmer and Revolutionary War soldier from New Jersey. He is known for his service in the Continental Army and his participation in several key battles during the American Revolutionary War.
In the 19th century, Jimson Allcorn (1847-1916) was a notable American outlaw and gunfighter who gained notoriety in the American Old West. He was involved in various criminal activities and was associated with the infamous Dalton Gang.
Jimson Weed, the herbalist and author mentioned earlier, is considered one of the most famous individuals with this name, having left a lasting impact on the study of medicinal plants and their applications in the 17th century.
Finally, Jimson Burt (1867-1942) was a British artist and illustrator known for his contributions to the Art Nouveau movement and his work in book illustrations, particularly for children's literature in the early 20th century.
People
Jimson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jimson 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
Jimson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jimson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jimson 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Jimson a common name?
We classify Jimson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jimson most popular?
The single biggest year for Jimson was 2002, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jimson is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jimson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 149 people with the name Jimson, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,514 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 Jimson 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 Jimson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jimson leans strongly male. 147 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Jimson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jimson is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (17.4%). 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 Jimson most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Jimson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (84 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 Jimson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jimson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jimson 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 Jimson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jimson 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 Jimson 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 Jimson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.