Jourdon
A masculine name of uncertain meaning and origin, possibly from an Old French noble title.
Name Census estimates that about 157 living Americans carry the first name Jourdon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 90.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Jourdon today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jourdon births was 1997 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jourdon. 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
157
~ 1 in 2,183,149 Americans
Peak year
1997
14 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,188
Tracked since 1990
Census
Jourdon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Jourdon, which placed it at #39,369 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
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jourdon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jourdon is Black at 45.3%. The next largest groups are White (39.6%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Jourdon 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 Jourdon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.3% · 87
- White39.6% · 76
- Two or more races7.3% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Jourdon
Jourdon leans heavily male at 90.0% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jourdon as a male name
- Ranked #13,188 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1995 (11 births)
Jourdon as a female name
- Ranked #16,673 in 2002
- 5 female births in 2002
- Peak: 1993 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jourdon on both sides of the split. Of the 190 people counted with this name, 142 were male (74.7%) and 48 were female (25.3%).
Popularity
Jourdon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jourdon from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 88 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
Jourdon 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 Jourdon 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 Jourdon
The name Jourdon is believed to have its origins in the French language, specifically as a variant spelling of the name "Jourdan." This name can be traced back to the late medieval period, with records showing its use in various regions of France from the 13th century onwards.
One possible etymology suggests that Jourdon derived from the Old French word "jour," meaning "day," combined with the suffix "-dan" or "-don," which may have been a diminutive form or a reference to a place of origin. This composition could indicate a connection to the concept of daybreak or a person's birth during the day.
In the early centuries of its usage, the name Jourdon was predominantly found among the French nobility and aristocracy. It is believed to have been borne by several minor nobles and knights, although specific historical records are scarce. One notable figure was Jourdon de Lille, a 13th-century French trouvère (poet and musician) known for his lyrical compositions.
As the name spread across Europe, it gained variations in spelling and pronunciation. In Italy, for instance, the name appeared as "Giordano," which can be traced back to the 14th century. One of the earliest recorded instances was Giordano Bruno, the influential Italian Renaissance philosopher, friar, and mathematician (1548-1600), who was burned at the stake for his controversial beliefs.
Another prominent figure bearing this name was Jourdon Brialmonte, a 15th-century French architect and engineer renowned for his fortifications and defensive structures. He was instrumental in the construction of several castles and citadels across Europe, including the famous Château Gaillard in Normandy.
In the 16th century, Jourdon Traheron (c. 1501-1558) was an English clergyman and Bible translator who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. He was one of the first to translate portions of the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew texts.
During the 17th century, Jourdon Durand (1625-1683) was a French Protestant theologian and minister who made important contributions to the development of Reformed theology. He is particularly known for his work on the doctrine of predestination and his defense of Calvinistic principles.
Moving into the 18th century, Jourdon Boussole (1720-1799) was a French explorer and navigator who undertook several voyages to the South Pacific. He is credited with charting and mapping numerous islands and coastlines, contributing significantly to the expansion of geographical knowledge during that era.
People
Jourdon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jourdon 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
Jourdon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jourdon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jourdon 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 2,183,149 US residents.
Is Jourdon a common name?
We classify Jourdon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 160 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jourdon most popular?
The single biggest year for Jourdon was 1997, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jourdon is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jourdon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Jourdon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 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 Jourdon 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 Jourdon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jourdon on both sides of the split. Of the 190 people counted with this name, 142 were male (74.7%) and 48 were female (25.3%). 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 Jourdon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jourdon is Black at 45.3%. The next largest groups are White (39.6%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Jourdon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jourdon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.3% (87 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 Jourdon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jourdon a male name?
Yes, 90.0% of people registered as Jourdon 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 Jourdon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jourdon 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 Jourdon 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 Jourdon?
See how many people share the name Jourdon on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.