Jordana
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "descending" or "the one who descends".
Name Census estimates that about 3,258 living Americans carry the first name Jordana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jordana today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jordana births was 2009 (88 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jordana. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jordana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 105,204 Americans
Peak year
2009
88 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,059
Tracked since 1960
Census
Jordana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,281 people with the first name Jordana, which placed it at #5,289 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
#5,289
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,281 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jordana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jordana is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Black (6.1%). 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 Jordana 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 Jordana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.0% · 2,230
- Hispanic or Latino17.5% · 573
- Black or African American6.1% · 201
- Two or more races4.7% · 155
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 39
Popularity
Jordana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jordana from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 687 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
Jordana 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 Jordana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jordanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Jordana, while Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 212 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jordana
The name Jordana is a feminine form of the masculine name Jordan, which has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "yarad," meaning "to descend" or "to flow down," and is closely linked to the river Jordan, a significant geographical and religious landmark in the Middle East.
The Jordan River is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, as it played a crucial role in several important events, such as the crossing of the Israelites into the Promised Land and the baptism of Jesus Christ. The name Jordan was likely given to the river due to its descent from the hills of Lebanon and Galilee towards the Dead Sea.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jordana can be traced back to the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with significant Jewish populations, such as Spain and Portugal. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jordana de Severac, a 13th-century noblewoman from the Languedoc region of France.
Throughout history, the name Jordana has been carried by several notable individuals. In the 16th century, Jordana Malaspina was an Italian poet and writer who was renowned for her contributions to the literary world. Another notable figure was Jordana de Arévalo, a Spanish writer and educator who lived in the 15th century and was known for her work on moral philosophy.
In more recent times, Jordana Brewster, an American actress born in 1980, has brought the name into the public eye through her roles in films and television shows. Jordana Spiro, an American actress and director born in 1977, is another prominent figure who has borne the name.
The name Jordana has also been carried by several influential women in various fields. Jordana Franchi, an Italian artist born in 1945, is renowned for her abstract paintings and installations. Jordana Grolnick, an American lawyer and legal scholar born in 1971, has made significant contributions to the field of international human rights law.
Throughout its history, the name Jordana has maintained a connection to its Hebrew roots and the significance of the Jordan River. While its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time, it remains a beautiful and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Jordana
People
Jordana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jordana 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
Jordana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jordana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jordana 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 105,204 US residents.
Is Jordana a common name?
We classify Jordana as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,407 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jordana most popular?
The single biggest year for Jordana was 2009, when 88 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jordana is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jordana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,281 people with the name Jordana, or 1.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,289 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 Jordana 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 Jordana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jordana appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,283 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Jordana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jordana is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Black (6.1%). 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 Jordana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jordana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (2,230 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 Jordana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jordana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jordana 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 Jordana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jordana 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 Jordana 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 Jordana?
Find out how many Americans are named Jordana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.