Jolette
A feminine French diminutive form of the name Jolie meaning "pretty".
Name Census estimates that about 731 living Americans carry the first name Jolette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jolette today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jolette births was 2005 (258 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jolette. 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
2005
258 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,186
Tracked since 1954
Census
Jolette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 614 people with the first name Jolette, which placed it at #17,775 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
#17,775
National first-name rank
People counted
614
614 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jolette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolette is Hispanic at 72.0%. The next largest groups are White (15.6%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Jolette 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 Jolette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.0% · 442
- White15.6% · 96
- Black or African American8.3% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 11
- Two or more races1.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Jolette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jolette from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 453 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
Jolette 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 Jolette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jolettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Jolette, while Oregon, Oklahoma, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jolette
The name Jolette is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically as a diminutive form of the name Jolie, meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." Its roots can be traced back to the Old French word "jolif," which was derived from the Latin word "ioculus," meaning "little joke" or "jest." This suggests that the name may have initially been given as a playful or affectionate nickname.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jolette can be found in French historical records from the 17th century, particularly in regions such as Normandy and Brittany. It was not an uncommon name among French peasants and commoners during that time period.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Jolette was Jolette Dubois, a French actress born in 1685 who gained acclaim for her performances in comedic plays in Paris. Another historical figure was Jolette Lefebvre, a French Revolution activist who played a role in the Women's March on Versailles in 1789.
In the 19th century, Jolette Bouchette, born in 1822, was a Canadian author and poet known for her works celebrating the natural beauty of her homeland. Across the Atlantic, Jolette Harding, an English suffragette born in 1876, was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement and advocated for equal voting rights.
Moving into the 20th century, Jolette Cavalieri, an Italian opera singer born in 1909, gained international recognition for her powerful soprano voice and performances in various operas and concerts throughout Europe.
While the name Jolette has remained relatively uncommon, it has persisted as a unique and charming French-inspired name, carrying a sense of beauty, playfulness, and historical significance through its roots and the notable individuals who have borne it over the centuries.
People
Jolette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jolette 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
Jolette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jolette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 731 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jolette 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 Jolette a common name?
We classify Jolette 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, 751 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jolette most popular?
The single biggest year for Jolette was 2005, when 258 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jolette is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jolette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 614 people with the name Jolette, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,775 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 Jolette 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 Jolette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jolette appears almost entirely female. Of the 610 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Jolette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolette is Hispanic at 72.0%. The next largest groups are White (15.6%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Jolette most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jolette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (442 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 Jolette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jolette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jolette 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 Jolette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jolette 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 Jolette 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 have Jolette as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Jolette, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.