Jolinda
A feminine name derived from the name Jolene, meaning "beautiful light".
Name Census estimates that about 785 living Americans carry the first name Jolinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jolinda today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jolinda births was 1947 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jolinda. 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
785
~ 1 in 436,630 Americans
Peak year
1947
39 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2010 SSA rank
#14,163
Tracked since 1936
Census
Jolinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 953 people with the first name Jolinda, which placed it at #12,863 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
#12,863
National first-name rank
People counted
953
953 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jolinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolinda is White at 69.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.9%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Jolinda 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 Jolinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.8% · 665
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 104
- Black or African American10.8% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 28
- Two or more races2.5% · 24
Popularity
Jolinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jolinda from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 244 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
Jolinda 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 Jolinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jolindas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Indiana, California recorded the most babies named Jolinda, while California, Indiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jolinda
Jolinda is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, though it is believed to have originated in Spain or Portugal during the Middle Ages. One theory suggests that it may be derived from the Spanish or Portuguese word "joli," meaning "pretty" or "beautiful," combined with the common feminine suffix "-inda." Another possibility is that it is a combination of the Germanic elements "jol" (meaning "holiday" or "celebration") and "lind" (meaning "gentle" or "soft").
The earliest recorded use of the name Jolinda can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Some historians have speculated that it may have been inspired by the name of a character in a medieval Spanish or Portuguese literary work, though no definitive evidence of this has been found.
In the 14th century, there is a record of a Jolinda de Montfort, a noblewoman from Catalonia, Spain. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in local political affairs.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Jolinda Boccaccio (1420-1491) gained recognition as a poet and scholar in Florence, Italy. She was celebrated for her contributions to the literary circles of the time and her translations of classical Greek texts.
In the 17th century, Jolinda van der Meer (1625-1699) was a Dutch painter known for her still-life compositions and portraits. Her works are considered significant examples of the Dutch Golden Age of painting.
Another historical figure with the name Jolinda was Jolinda Mendoza (1789-1856), a Mexican author and activist who advocated for women's rights and education. She wrote several influential essays and novels that challenged societal norms of her time.
Throughout history, the name Jolinda has retained its unique and melodic quality, though it has never been widely popular. It has been used across various cultures and regions, primarily in Europe and Latin America, adding to its rich and diverse heritage.
People
Jolinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jolinda 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
Jolinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jolinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 785 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jolinda 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 436,630 US residents.
Is Jolinda a common name?
We classify Jolinda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,003 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jolinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Jolinda was 1947, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jolinda is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jolinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 953 people with the name Jolinda, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,863 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 Jolinda 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 Jolinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jolinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 950 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Jolinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jolinda is White at 69.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.9%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Jolinda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jolinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.8% (665 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 Jolinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jolinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jolinda 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 Jolinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jolinda 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 Jolinda 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 Jolinda as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Jolinda, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.