Jisela
A feminine name of uncertain origin potentially related to the Spanish name Gisela.
Name Census estimates that about 364 living Americans carry the first name Jisela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jisela today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jisela births was 2002 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jisela. 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
364
~ 1 in 941,633 Americans
Peak year
2002
35 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2016 SSA rank
#17,422
Tracked since 1977
Census
Jisela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 456 people with the first name Jisela, which placed it at #22,008 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
#22,008
National first-name rank
People counted
456
456 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jisela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jisela is Hispanic at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Jisela 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 Jisela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.4% · 417
- White2.9% · 13
- Two or more races2.2% · 10
- Black or African American2.0% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Jisela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jisela from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 218 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
Jisela 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 Jisela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jiselas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jisela, while Illinois, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jisela
The name Jisela has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the early medieval period around the 6th to 8th centuries AD. The name is believed to have derived from the Old High German words "gis" meaning "hostage" or "pledge" and "hild" meaning "battle" or "combat." The combination of these two elements suggests that Jisela may have initially been a name given to children born during times of conflict or as a symbol of peace between warring parties.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jisela can be found in the Codex Traditionum Corbeiensium, a medieval cartulary or collection of charters from the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This document, dating back to the 9th century, mentions a woman named Jisela who was a landowner in the region.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Jisela seems to have been primarily used in German-speaking regions, although it was also adopted in some areas of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium. In the 11th century, a noblewoman named Jisela of Merseburg was recorded as the wife of Count Dedo I of Wettin, making her an ancestor of the influential House of Wettin, which ruled over several German states and later provided monarchs for the kingdoms of Saxony and Poland.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jisela was Jisela of Kalisch, who lived in the 12th century and was the daughter of Duke Mieszko III of Poland. She married Duke Berthold IV of Merania and played a significant role in the political affairs of the Holy Roman Empire during that time.
In the 13th century, a Benedictine nun named Jisela of Cologne was renowned for her piety and miracles, and her life was documented in a hagiography or saint's biography. Although she was never officially canonized, she was venerated as a blessed by the Catholic Church in the Cologne region.
As the centuries passed, the name Jisela became less common but was still occasionally used, especially in certain parts of Germany and the Low Countries. In the 16th century, Jisela von Bülow was a German noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Pomerania.
While the name Jisela has its roots in ancient Germanic languages and has a rich historical legacy, it is relatively uncommon in modern times, particularly outside of certain regions in Germany and neighboring countries. However, its unique origins and connection to medieval European history make it a fascinating name with a deep cultural significance.
People
Jisela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jisela 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
Jisela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jisela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jisela 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 941,633 US residents.
Is Jisela a common name?
We classify Jisela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 373 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jisela most popular?
The single biggest year for Jisela was 2002, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jisela is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jisela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 456 people with the name Jisela, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,008 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 Jisela 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 Jisela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jisela appears almost entirely female. Of the 445 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 Jisela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jisela is Hispanic at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Jisela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jisela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (417 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 Jisela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jisela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jisela 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 Jisela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jisela 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 Jisela 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 are named Jisela?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.