Jovaun
A masculine name derived from John, of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the first name Jovaun. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jovaun today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jovaun births was 2001 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jovaun. 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
126
~ 1 in 2,720,273 Americans
Peak year
2001
12 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2016 SSA rank
#13,167
Tracked since 1986
Census
Jovaun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 169 people with the first name Jovaun, which placed it at #42,487 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
#42,487
National first-name rank
People counted
169
169 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jovaun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jovaun is Black at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Jovaun 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 Jovaun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.0% · 125
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 19
- Two or more races9.5% · 16
- White3.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 3
Popularity
Jovaun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jovaun from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 53 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
Jovaun 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 Jovaun 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 Jovaun
The name Jovaun has its origins in the French language and culture, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "joven," which means "young" or "youthful." This name was likely given to newborn boys as a symbol of youth and vitality.
In medieval France, the name Jovaun was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes. It was often associated with the ideals of chivalry and courtly love, as many young noblemen bore this name during their formative years as squires or pages in the service of knights and lords.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Jovaun can be found in the 12th-century epic poem "The Song of Roland," which recounts the exploits of the famous Frankish knight Roland and his comrades during the reign of Charlemagne. In this work, a young squire named Jovaun is described as accompanying Roland on his ill-fated expedition against the Basque forces in the Pyrenees.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jovaun gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and Italy. One notable figure who bore this name was Jovaun Boccaccio (1313-1375), an Italian writer and scholar best known for his masterpiece "The Decameron," a collection of novellas that provided a vivid portrait of 14th-century Italian society.
In the 17th century, Jovaun Racine (1639-1699), a French dramatist and one of the most influential figures in the history of French literature, brought further renown to the name. His tragedies, such as "Phèdre" and "Andromaque," explored themes of passion, duty, and the complexities of human nature.
Another prominent figure named Jovaun was Jovaun Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière (1622-1673), the celebrated French playwright and actor. His satirical comedies, including "Tartuffe" and "The Misanthrope," earned him a place among the greatest writers in the French language.
In the realm of music, Jovaun Sebastien Bach (1685-1750), the legendary German composer and virtuoso organist, is one of the most famous bearers of the name. His works, such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Mass in B Minor, are considered pinnacles of the Baroque era and have influenced countless musicians throughout history.
While the name Jovaun has its roots in French culture, it has also been adopted and adapted in various other languages and cultures over the centuries, reflecting the widespread influence of French language and civilization during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
People
Jovaun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jovaun 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
Jovaun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jovaun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 126 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jovaun 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 2,720,273 US residents.
Is Jovaun a common name?
We classify Jovaun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jovaun most popular?
The single biggest year for Jovaun was 2001, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jovaun is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jovaun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 169 people with the name Jovaun, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,487 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 Jovaun 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 Jovaun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jovaun leans strongly male. 153 people counted with this name were male (90.5%), compared with 16 female bearers (9.5%). 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 Jovaun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jovaun is Black at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Jovaun most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jovaun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (125 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 Jovaun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jovaun a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jovaun 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 Jovaun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jovaun 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 Jovaun 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 Jovaun?
You can see how many Americans are named Jovaun on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.