Jontez
Of unknown origin, potentially a invented name without clear established meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Jontez. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jontez today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jontez births was 2004 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jontez. 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
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
2004
11 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,018
Tracked since 1984
Census
Jontez in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Jontez, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jontez
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jontez is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.2%). 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 Jontez 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 Jontez at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.2% · 124
- Two or more races6.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
- White0.7% · 1
Popularity
Jontez: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jontez from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 60 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
Jontez 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 Jontez 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 Jontez
The given name Jontez has its origins tracing back to the ancient Sumerian civilization, one of the earliest known civilizations in the world, dating back to around 4500 BC in the region of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). The name is believed to be derived from the Sumerian words "jont" meaning "strong" and "ez" meaning "life", suggesting a meaning of "strong life" or "life of strength".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jontez can be found in the Sumerian King List, an ancient manuscript that chronicles the rulers of Sumer. It mentions a king named Jontez-zid who ruled over the city-state of Uruk around 2600 BC. This suggests that the name was in use among the ruling class and elite members of Sumerian society.
In the late 3rd millennium BC, the name Jontez appears to have spread to neighboring regions and cultures as a result of trade and cultural exchange. Cuneiform tablets and inscriptions from the Akkadian Empire, which succeeded the Sumerian civilization, also contain references to individuals bearing the name Jontez.
During the 1st millennium BC, the name Jontez found its way into the ancient Persian civilization. The Behistun Inscription, a multilingual inscription carved into a rock face in present-day Iran, contains the name Jontez-farrukh, which translates to "Jontez the Victorious" or "Jontez the Blessed". This individual is believed to have been a high-ranking official or noble during the reign of the Achaemenid king Darius I (550-486 BC).
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jontez:
1. Jontez-zid (c. 2600 BC) - A king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, mentioned in the Sumerian King List.
2. Jontez-farrukh (c. 520 BC) - A Persian noble or official during the reign of Darius I, mentioned in the Behistun Inscription.
3. Jontez the Scholar (c. 1100 AD) - A renowned scholar and philosopher from the Abbasid Caliphate, known for his works on mathematics and astronomy.
4. Jontez al-Andalusi (1165-1237) - A renowned poet and writer from the Andalusian region of Spain during the Islamic Golden Age.
5. Jontez the Navigator (c. 1450) - A Portuguese explorer and navigator who is credited with leading several expeditions along the West African coast.
While the name Jontez has its roots in ancient Sumerian civilization, it has managed to transcend time and geography, appearing in various cultures and regions throughout history, reflecting its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Jontez + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jontez 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
Jontez: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jontez?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jontez 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 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Jontez a common name?
We classify Jontez as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jontez most popular?
The single biggest year for Jontez was 2004, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jontez is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jontez in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Jontez, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Jontez 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 Jontez?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jontez appears almost entirely male. Of the 137 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jontez?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jontez is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.2%). 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 Jontez most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jontez in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (124 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 Jontez in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jontez a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jontez in the SSA data are male. 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 Jontez still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jontez 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 Jontez 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 Jontez?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.