Jourdan
A French variant of the Hebrew name "Jordan" meaning "descending" or "flowing down".
Name Census estimates that about 4,070 living Americans carry the first name Jourdan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Jourdan today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jourdan births was 1990 (270 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jourdan. 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 Jourdan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jourdan sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,215 Americans
Peak year
1990
270 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,292
Tracked since 1973
Census
Jourdan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,480 people with the first name Jourdan, which placed it at #5,063 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
#5,063
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jourdan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jourdan is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.0%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Jourdan 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 Jourdan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 1,646
- Black or African American33.0% · 1,150
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 317
- Two or more races7.2% · 251
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 93
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Jourdan
Jourdan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,185 total registrations, 1,861 (44.5%) were male and 2,324 (55.5%) were female.
Jourdan as a male name
- Ranked #6,292 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (89 births)
Jourdan as a female name
- Ranked #12,699 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (181 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jourdan on both sides of the split. Of the 3,483 people counted with this name, 1,436 were male (41.2%) and 2,047 were female (58.8%).
Popularity
Jourdan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jourdan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,982 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jourdan 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 Jourdan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jourdans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Jourdan, while Tennessee, Oregon, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jourdan
The name Jourdan has its origins in the French language and culture. It is derived from the word "jour," meaning "day" in French, and is believed to have been originally used as a surname for someone who lived near a river or stream named "Jour."
In the early medieval period, the name Jourdan emerged as a given name, particularly in regions where French influence was strong, such as parts of modern-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The name's popularity likely stemmed from its association with the natural world, as rivers and streams were vital sources of life and sustenance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jourdan can be found in the 12th century French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where a character named Jourdan appears as a knight in the service of Charlemagne. This literary reference suggests that the name was in use during the High Middle Ages and carried connotations of bravery and loyalty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jourdan. One of the most famous was Jourdan de Courcelles (1572-1639), a French military leader who fought in the Thirty Years' War and served as the governor of Catalonia. Another prominent figure was Jourdan Couppie (1589-1661), a French sculptor known for his intricate wood carvings adorning churches and cathedrals in Paris.
In the 18th century, Jourdan Haudry (1714-1792) was a renowned French botanist and author who contributed significantly to the study of plant taxonomy. Meanwhile, Jourdan Jacquet (1770-1832) was a French military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later served as a member of the French parliament.
During the 19th century, Jourdan Lecointe (1825-1892) was a Belgian artist celebrated for his vivid landscapes and portraits, many of which are housed in prestigious museums across Europe.
While the name Jourdan has remained relatively uncommon compared to more popular French names, it has endured through the centuries, carrying a sense of historic significance and cultural richness. Its association with natural elements and its appearances in literature and history have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Jourdan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jourdan 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
Jourdan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jourdan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,070 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jourdan 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 84,215 US residents.
Is Jourdan a common name?
We classify Jourdan as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jourdan most popular?
The single biggest year for Jourdan was 1990, when 270 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jourdan is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jourdan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,480 people with the name Jourdan, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,063 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 Jourdan 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 Jourdan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jourdan on both sides of the split. Of the 3,483 people counted with this name, 1,436 were male (41.2%) and 2,047 were female (58.8%). 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 Jourdan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jourdan is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Black (33.0%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Jourdan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jourdan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (1,646 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 Jourdan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jourdan a female name?
Yes, 55.5% of people registered as Jourdan 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 Jourdan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jourdan 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 Jourdan 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 the name Jourdan?
See how many people share the name Jourdan on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.