Jodene
A feminine given name of English origin, meaning "God will judge".
Name Census estimates that about 731 living Americans carry the first name Jodene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jodene today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jodene births was 1966 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jodene. 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
731
~ 1 in 468,884 Americans
Peak year
1966
51 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1989 SSA rank
#13,265
Tracked since 1937
Popularity
Jodene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jodene from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 395 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
Jodene 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 Jodene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jodenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Wisconsin, Nebraska, California recorded the most babies named Jodene, while Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jodene
The given name Jodene is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the United States during the 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Jo and Dene, with Jo being a common shortened form of names like Josephine or Joanna, and Dene being a variant spelling of the name Deane or Dean, which has English origins and means "valley" or "from the valley."
While the exact origins of Jodene are unclear, it appears to have gained popularity as a unique and feminine name in the mid-20th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 1940 United States Census, where a woman named Jodene Lindsey was listed as residing in Texas.
Throughout the decades, several notable individuals have borne the name Jodene. One of the earliest was Jodene Sparks, an American actress and singer who was born in 1927 and appeared in various films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s.
Another notable Jodene was Jodene Decker, an American professional wrestler who competed under the ring name Lady Rae. She was active in the 1970s and 1980s and is remembered for her successful career in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF).
In the world of sports, Jodene Sommer was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. She achieved several victories throughout her career and was inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.
Jodene Blilie was an American politician who served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, representing the Republican Party.
In the field of education, Jodene Goldenring was an American academic and educator who served as the president of Roosevelt University in Chicago from 1988 to 2003, making significant contributions to the institution's growth and development.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Jodene throughout history. Despite its relatively modern origins, the name has gained recognition and been adopted by individuals from various walks of life.
People
Jodene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jodene 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
Jodene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jodene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 731 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jodene 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 468,884 US residents.
Is Jodene a common name?
We classify Jodene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 957 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jodene most popular?
The single biggest year for Jodene was 1966, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jodene is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jodene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jodene 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.
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.