Jodeci
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "Jehovah empowers."
Name Census estimates that about 839 living Americans carry the first name Jodeci. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Jodeci today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jodeci births was 1992 (171 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jodeci. 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
839
~ 1 in 408,527 Americans
Peak year
1992
171 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,290
Tracked since 1991
Census
Jodeci in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 513 people with the first name Jodeci, which placed it at #20,216 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
#20,216
National first-name rank
People counted
513
513 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jodeci
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jodeci is Black at 44.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.8%) and Two or More Races (15.8%). 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 Jodeci 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 Jodeci at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.8% · 230
- Hispanic or Latino23.8% · 122
- Two or more races15.8% · 81
- White8.4% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Jodeci
Jodeci is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 856 total registrations, 444 (51.9%) were male and 412 (48.1%) were female.
Jodeci as a male name
- Ranked #6,290 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (94 births)
Jodeci as a female name
- Ranked #11,536 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jodeci on both sides of the split. Of the 518 people counted with this name, 249 were male (48.1%) and 269 were female (51.9%).
Popularity
Jodeci: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jodeci from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 462 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
Jodeci 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 Jodeci during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jodecis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jodeci, while New York, Virginia, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jodeci
The name Jodeci has its origins in the music industry, specifically in the world of R&B and hip-hop. It is the name of an American R&B vocal group formed in 1989 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The group consisted of two pairs of brothers: Cedric and Joel Hailey, and Donald and Mr. Dalvin.
The name Jodeci is not derived from any particular language or culture. It is a portmanteau, a combination of the first names of the group members: Jo from Joel, De from Donald, Ce from Cedric, and another Ce from Cedric. The name was created specifically for the group and does not have any ancient or historical roots.
The group Jodeci rose to prominence in the early 1990s and is considered one of the most influential R&B groups of that era. Their music blended elements of traditional R&B with hip-hop and new jack swing, a popular style of the time. Their debut album, "Forever My Lady," released in 1991, was a commercial and critical success, featuring hit singles like "Stay" and "Gotta Love."
While the name Jodeci itself does not have any historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the group has left a significant mark in the history of contemporary R&B and hip-hop music. They are credited with influencing many later artists and shaping the sound of urban contemporary music in the 1990s.
Throughout their career, the members of Jodeci have used their first names in various combinations for solo projects and collaborations. However, as a group name, Jodeci is unique and does not appear to have been used by any other prominent individuals or entities in history.
The name Jodeci is closely associated with the group's members, and it is difficult to find examples of other notable figures throughout history who have shared this name. It is a modern creation that has become synonymous with the groundbreaking R&B group and their contributions to music.
People
Jodeci + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jodeci 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
Jodeci: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jodeci?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 839 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jodeci 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 408,527 US residents.
Is Jodeci a common name?
We classify Jodeci as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 856 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jodeci most popular?
The single biggest year for Jodeci was 1992, when 171 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jodeci is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jodeci in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 513 people with the name Jodeci, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,216 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 Jodeci 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 Jodeci?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jodeci on both sides of the split. Of the 518 people counted with this name, 249 were male (48.1%) and 269 were female (51.9%). 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 Jodeci?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jodeci is Black at 44.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.8%) and Two or More Races (15.8%). 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 Jodeci most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jodeci in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.8% (230 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 Jodeci in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jodeci a male name?
Yes, 51.9% of people registered as Jodeci 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 Jodeci still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jodeci 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 Jodeci 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 share the name Jodeci?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.