Journee
A feminine name of French origin meaning "the journey of life".
Name Census estimates that about 16,982 living Americans carry the first name Journee. It sits at #217 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Journee today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Journee births was 2021 (1,532 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Journee. 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 Journee with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Journee is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 172 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Journee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 20,183 Americans
Peak year
2021
1,532 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#217
Tracked since 1986
Census
Journee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,441 people with the first name Journee, which placed it at #3,007 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
#3,007
National first-name rank
People counted
7.4K
7,441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Journee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Journee is Black at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (13.9%) 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 Journee 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 Journee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.9% · 5,423
- White13.9% · 1,036
- Two or more races7.3% · 545
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 352
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Journee
Journee leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 172 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Journee as a male name
- Ranked #5,313 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (18 births)
Journee as a female name
- Ranked #217 in 2024
- 1,416 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (1,519 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Journee leans strongly female. 7,347 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 92 male bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Journee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Journee from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 8,570 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Journee 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 Journee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Journees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Journee, while New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 390 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Journee
The name Journee originates from the French language, derived from the word "journée," meaning "day" or "daily." This name gained popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries in France and other French-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Journee can be found in the writings of French philosopher and literary figure Voltaire (1694-1778). In his work "Candide," he mentioned a character named Journee, though it's unclear whether this was intended as a given name or a reference to the word itself.
During the French Revolution (1789-1799), the name Journee became associated with the ideals of liberty and progress, as the revolutionaries sought to establish a new social order based on the principles of "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). Some families embraced the name as a symbol of their commitment to these revolutionary values.
In the early 19th century, a notable figure named Journee Desrochers (1796-1874) gained recognition as a prominent educator and advocate for women's rights in France. She established several schools and wrote extensively on the importance of education for girls and women.
Another historical figure bearing the name Journee was Journee Leclerc (1820-1892), a French explorer and naturalist who participated in several expeditions to Africa and the Americas. She is known for her detailed accounts of the flora and fauna encountered during her travels.
In the realm of literature, the name Journee appears in the works of French writer and poet Victor Hugo (1802-1885). In his novel "Les Misérables," one of the minor characters is named Journee, though her role is relatively small.
While the name Journee has its roots in French culture, it has also been adopted by families in other countries, particularly those with French influence or connections. However, it remains a relatively uncommon name compared to more traditional French names.
People
Journee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Journee 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
Journee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Journee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,982 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Journee 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 20,183 US residents.
Is Journee a common name?
We classify Journee as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Journee most popular?
The single biggest year for Journee was 2021, when 1,532 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Journee is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Journee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,441 people with the name Journee, or 2.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,007 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 Journee 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 Journee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Journee leans strongly female. 7,347 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 92 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Journee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Journee is Black at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (13.9%) 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 Journee most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Journee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (5,423 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 Journee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Journee a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Journee 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 Journee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Journee 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 Journee 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 Americans are named Journee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.