Jonica
A feminine name of unknown meaning and origin.
Name Census estimates that about 582 living Americans carry the first name Jonica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jonica today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonica births was 1982 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonica. 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
582
~ 1 in 588,925 Americans
Peak year
1982
23 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2015 SSA rank
#15,356
Tracked since 1957
Census
Jonica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 611 people with the first name Jonica, which placed it at #17,841 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
#17,841
National first-name rank
People counted
611
611 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonica is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Jonica 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 Jonica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.4% · 357
- Black or African American24.7% · 151
- Two or more races6.7% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 12
Popularity
Jonica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonica from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 169 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jonica 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 Jonica 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 Jonica
The name Jonica has its roots in the ancient Greek language and culture, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the word "Ionikos," which referred to the Ionian region of ancient Greece, comprising the central part of the western coast of modern-day Turkey. The name may also have connections to the Greek goddess Ionic, who was associated with the moon and fertility.
One of the earliest known references to the name Jonica can be found in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who documented the Ionian Revolt against the Persian Empire in 499 BCE. In his work, he mentioned a woman named Jonica, who was said to be a priestess of the goddess Ionic at the temple of Miletus.
Throughout the centuries, the name Jonica has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 3rd century BCE, Jonica of Cyzicus was a renowned Greek philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of geometry and optics. Her work on conic sections laid the foundation for later developments in calculus and modern physics.
During the Byzantine era, Jonica Comnena (1088-1149) was a princess of the Comnenus dynasty and a renowned scholar. She is best known for her historical work, the "Alexiad," which chronicled the life and reign of her father, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
In the Renaissance period, Jonica Veronese (1542-1617) was an Italian painter and engraver from Verona. She is celebrated for her proficient use of chiaroscuro and her ability to capture the essence of her subjects in her portraits.
Another notable figure was Jonica Martínez (1845-1918), a Cuban writer, and poet who played a significant role in the country's literary and cultural renaissance in the late 19th century. Her works often explored themes of social justice, feminism, and national identity.
More recently, Jonica Newby (born 1968) is an Australian science journalist, author, and television presenter. She has hosted several popular science programs on Australian television, including "Catalyst" and "The New Inventors," and has received numerous awards for her work in promoting scientific understanding and literacy.
Overall, the name Jonica has a rich history spanning various cultures and eras, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and achievements of those who have borne it throughout the centuries.
People
Jonica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonica 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
Jonica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 582 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonica 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 588,925 US residents.
Is Jonica a common name?
We classify Jonica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 628 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonica most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonica was 1982, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonica is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jonica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 611 people with the name Jonica, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,841 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 Jonica 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 Jonica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonica appears almost entirely female. Of the 611 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Jonica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonica is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Jonica most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jonica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.4% (357 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 Jonica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonica 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 Jonica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonica 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 Jonica 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 are called Jonica?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.