Jodye
A feminine variation of the masculine name Jody, itself a diminutive of Joseph.
Name Census estimates that about 57 living Americans carry the first name Jodye. It is a predominantly female name (92.8% of registrations). The average person named Jodye today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jodye births was 1964 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jodye. 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 Jodye. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
57
~ 1 in 6,013,234 Americans
Peak year
1964
9 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2019 SSA rank
#9,323
Tracked since 1954
Census
Jodye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 118 people with the first name Jodye, which placed it at #50,661 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
#50,661
National first-name rank
People counted
118
118 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jodye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jodye is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Jodye 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 Jodye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.5% · 82
- Black or African American11.0% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino11.0% · 13
- Two or more races4.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Jodye
Jodye leans heavily female at 92.8% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jodye as a male name
- Ranked #13,042 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2019 (5 births)
Jodye as a female name
- Ranked #9,323 in 1974
- 5 female births in 1974
- Peak: 1964 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jodye leans strongly female. 97 people counted with this name were female (87.4%), compared with 14 male bearers (12.6%).
Popularity
Jodye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jodye from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 27 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
Jodye 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 Jodye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jodye
The name Jodye is a variant spelling of the English name Jody, which is derived from the Hebrew name Judah or Judas. The name Judah comes from the Hebrew word "yadah" meaning "to praise" or "to give thanks." It was the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob in the Old Testament of the Bible.
In the biblical account, Judah was the ancestor of one of the tribes of Israel, and it was from his line that King David and Jesus Christ were descended. The name Judah was therefore associated with royalty and the Messiah in Jewish tradition. The Greek form of the name, Judas, was borne by one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who betrayed him to the authorities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jody as a given name for females dates back to the 18th century in England. It is believed to have been a diminutive or nickname form of the name Judith, which is also derived from the Hebrew name Judah.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Jodye was Jodye Watt (1743-1819), a Scottish poet and writer from Ayrshire. Another notable bearer was Jodye Farrall (1776-1856), an English writer and journalist who published works on various subjects including history and politics.
In the 19th century, Jodye Meyers (1814-1892) was a prominent American businesswoman and philanthropist from New York City. She was known for her charitable work and support of various organizations and causes.
In the 20th century, Jodye Blanco (born 1975) is an American author and speaker who wrote the memoir "Please Stop Laughing at Me" about her experiences with bullying as a child. Jodye Muir (1951-2008) was a Canadian artist and painter known for her landscapes and portraits.
While not as common as some other variants of the name, Jodye has been used throughout history as a feminine given name, often as a variant spelling of Jody or Jodi. Its Hebrew origins and biblical associations have contributed to its enduring use over the centuries.
People
Jodye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jodye 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
Jodye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jodye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 57 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jodye 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 6,013,234 US residents.
Is Jodye a common name?
We classify Jodye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jodye most popular?
The single biggest year for Jodye was 1964, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jodye is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jodye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 118 people with the name Jodye, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,661 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 Jodye 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 Jodye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jodye leans strongly female. 97 people counted with this name were female (87.4%), compared with 14 male bearers (12.6%). 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 Jodye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jodye is White at 69.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Hispanic (11.0%). 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 Jodye most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jodye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.5% (82 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 Jodye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jodye a female name?
Yes, 92.8% of people registered as Jodye 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 Jodye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jodye 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 Jodye 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 Jodye?
Want to know how many people share the name Jodye? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.