Junita
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "younger" or "little one".
Name Census estimates that about 535 living Americans carry the first name Junita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Junita today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Junita births was 1926 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Junita. 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
535
~ 1 in 640,662 Americans
Peak year
1926
41 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1992 SSA rank
#10,999
Tracked since 1912
Census
Junita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 792 people with the first name Junita, which placed it at #14,765 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
#14,765
National first-name rank
People counted
792
792 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Junita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Junita is White at 35.0%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (20.3%). 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 Junita 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 Junita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.0% · 277
- Black or African American31.2% · 247
- Hispanic or Latino20.3% · 161
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.1% · 72
- Two or more races3.2% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 10
Popularity
Junita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Junita from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 294 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Junita 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 Junita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Junitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas recorded the most babies named Junita, while Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Junita
The name Junita has its origins in the Latin language and culture. It is derived from the Latin word "junus," which means "youth" or "young." The name was likely used as a feminine form of the male name Junius, which was a Roman family name.
In ancient Roman times, the name Junius was associated with the month of June, which was named after the Roman goddess Juno. Juno was the queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage, childbirth, and women. The name Junita may have been used as a way to honor or pay tribute to this important goddess.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Junita can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived from 59 BC to 17 AD. He mentions a woman named Junita who was involved in a religious ceremony in ancient Rome.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Junita. One of the most famous was Junita de la Huerta, a Spanish nun and mystic who lived in the 16th century. She was known for her visions and spiritual writings, and was considered a patron saint of difficult pregnancies.
Another notable Junita was Junita Mendoza, a Mexican-American civil rights activist who fought for the rights of migrant workers in the United States in the mid-20th century. She worked alongside Cesar Chavez and played a crucial role in the grape boycott and strike of the 1960s.
In the world of literature, there was Junita Ramos, a Chilean poet and novelist who lived from 1922 to 2008. Her works explored themes of identity, feminism, and social injustice, and she was widely regarded as one of the most important voices in Latin American literature of her time.
In the field of music, there was Junita Baker, an American blues singer and guitarist who was active in the 1920s and 1930s. She was known for her powerful voice and her ability to blend different styles of music, including blues, jazz, and gospel.
Finally, in the world of sports, there was Junita Navas, a Puerto Rican track and field athlete who competed in the Olympics in the 1980s and 1990s. She won multiple medals in the long jump and triple jump events and held several national and international records.
People
Junita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Junita 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
Junita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Junita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Junita 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 640,662 US residents.
Is Junita a common name?
We classify Junita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,314 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Junita most popular?
The single biggest year for Junita was 1926, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Junita is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Junita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 792 people with the name Junita, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,765 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 Junita 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 Junita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Junita appears almost entirely female. Of the 796 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Junita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Junita is White at 35.0%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (20.3%). 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 Junita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Junita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.0% (277 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 Junita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Junita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Junita 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 Junita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Junita 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 Junita 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 Junita?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Junita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.