Jonita
A feminine name of unknown origin and meaning, perhaps derived from Jonah.
Name Census estimates that about 622 living Americans carry the first name Jonita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jonita today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonita births was 1952 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonita. 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
622
~ 1 in 551,052 Americans
Peak year
1952
30 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2014 SSA rank
#17,756
Tracked since 1924
Census
Jonita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 665 people with the first name Jonita, which placed it at #16,809 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
#16,809
National first-name rank
People counted
665
665 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonita is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are White (41.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Jonita 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 Jonita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.2% · 287
- White41.2% · 274
- Two or more races4.4% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 24
Popularity
Jonita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonita from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 164 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jonita 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 Jonita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jonitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jonita, while Illinois, Oklahoma, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jonita
The name Jonita is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have roots in various languages and cultures. One theory suggests that it may be derived from the Hebrew name Yonah, meaning "dove," which was a popular name in ancient Israel. Another possibility is that it stems from the Latin name Joanita, a feminine form of Joannes (John), meaning "graced by God."
In some cultures, Jonita is considered a variant of the name Juanita, a Spanish name derived from the masculine name Juan, which itself comes from the Hebrew name Yohanan or John. This name was popularized in Spain during the Middle Ages and later spread to other parts of the world through Spanish colonization and cultural influence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jonita can be found in historical records from the late 17th century in England. A notable figure bearing this name was Jonita Pemberton (1670-1732), a Quaker writer and preacher from Lancashire, England, who published several religious works and traveled extensively to spread her teachings.
In the 19th century, Jonita Ganster (1823-1901) was a German-born American educator and poet who founded several schools in Missouri and contributed to the development of education in the state.
Another prominent figure with this name was Jonita Wilkins (1897-1990), an American artist and illustrator from Georgia, known for her vibrant depictions of Southern life and landscapes. Her works were widely exhibited and can be found in numerous museum collections.
Jonita Sommerfeld (1924-2018) was a Canadian author and playwright, best known for her novel "The Butterfly Tree," which explored themes of identity and belonging in the context of a multicultural society.
Lastly, Jonita Gandhi (born 1988) is an Indian playback singer and songwriter who has lent her voice to numerous Bollywood and independent films, garnering critical acclaim and popular success in the Indian music industry.
These examples illustrate the diverse cultural backgrounds and historical periods in which the name Jonita has been used, reflecting its enduring appeal and adaptability across different regions and eras.
People
Jonita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonita 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
Jonita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 622 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonita 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 551,052 US residents.
Is Jonita a common name?
We classify Jonita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 799 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonita most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonita was 1952, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonita is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jonita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 665 people with the name Jonita, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,809 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 Jonita 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 Jonita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonita appears almost entirely female. Of the 666 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Jonita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonita is Black at 43.2%. The next largest groups are White (41.2%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Jonita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jonita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.2% (287 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 Jonita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonita 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 Jonita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonita 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 Jonita 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 Jonita as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Jonita, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.