Jinx
A whimsical name suggesting mischievousness, often perceived as bringing bad luck.
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the first name Jinx. It is a predominantly female name (94.7% of registrations). The average person named Jinx today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jinx births was 1950 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jinx. 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
138
~ 1 in 2,483,727 Americans
Peak year
1950
18 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,540
Tracked since 1926
Census
Jinx in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 261 people with the first name Jinx, which placed it at #32,310 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
#32,310
National first-name rank
People counted
261
261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jinx
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jinx is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Hispanic (7.7%). 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 Jinx 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 Jinx at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.8% · 190
- Black or African American8.0% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 20
- Two or more races5.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Jinx
Jinx leans heavily female at 94.7% of total registrations, but 11 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jinx as a male name
- Ranked #11,540 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (6 births)
Jinx as a female name
- Ranked #12,686 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1950 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jinx leans strongly female. 228 people counted with this name were female (86.0%), compared with 37 male bearers (14.0%).
Popularity
Jinx: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jinx from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 81 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Jinx remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jinx 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 Jinx during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jinx' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jinx
The name Jinx is believed to have originated from the English language, deriving from the word "jinx," which means a curse or a spell of bad luck. The name's origins can be traced back to the late 19th century, when the term "jinx" became popularized in English vernacular.
In its earliest usage, the word "jinx" referred to a supernatural force or entity that brought misfortune or bad luck. It was often used in the context of superstitions and folk beliefs, particularly in relation to certain actions or objects that were considered unlucky or cursed.
The name Jinx gained popularity as a given name in the early 20th century, likely inspired by the growing fascination with the occult and mysticism during that era. It was often given to children with the belief that it would ward off ill fortune or bring good luck, serving as a kind of protective charm or talisman.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jinx can be found in the 1932 novel "Jinx Money" by Samuel Hopkins Adams, where the protagonist's name was Jinx. This literary reference may have contributed to the name's wider usage and recognition.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jinx. One such person was Jinx Falkenburg (1919-2003), an American actress, model, and businesswoman who was known for her beauty and entrepreneurial endeavors. Another famous Jinx was Jinx Dawson (1924-2012), a Canadian baseball player who played for the Cincinnati Reds in the late 1940s.
In the world of entertainment, the name Jinx has been associated with characters in various works of fiction. For example, Jinx is the name of a popular character in the animated series "Teen Titans," and also a villain in the James Bond film "Die Another Day."
Other notable individuals with the name Jinx include Jinx Dawson (1924-2012), a Canadian baseball player; Jinx Fairchild (born 1934), an American drag queen and actor; and Jinx Titanic (born 1970), an American singer and songwriter.
While the name Jinx may have originated from superstitious beliefs about luck and curses, it has since evolved into a unique and intriguing given name, often chosen for its distinctive sound and connotations of mystique and individuality.
People
Jinx + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jinx 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
Jinx: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jinx?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 138 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jinx 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 2,483,727 US residents.
Is Jinx a common name?
We classify Jinx as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jinx most popular?
The single biggest year for Jinx was 1950, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jinx is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jinx in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 261 people with the name Jinx, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,310 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 Jinx 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 Jinx?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jinx leans strongly female. 228 people counted with this name were female (86.0%), compared with 37 male bearers (14.0%). 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 Jinx?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jinx is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Hispanic (7.7%). 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 Jinx most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jinx in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.8% (190 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 Jinx in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jinx a female name?
Yes, 94.7% of people registered as Jinx 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 Jinx still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jinx 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 Jinx 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 Jinx?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Jinx at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.