Genelle
Feminine name possibly derived from French and meaning "gently born".
Name Census estimates that about 1,136 living Americans carry the first name Genelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Genelle today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Genelle births was 1981 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Genelle. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 301,720 Americans
Peak year
1981
36 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,590
Tracked since 1904
Census
Genelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,223 people with the first name Genelle, which placed it at #10,750 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
#10,750
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Genelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Genelle is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Genelle 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 Genelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.3% · 664
- Black or African American25.4% · 311
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 131
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 53
- Two or more races3.9% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 16
Popularity
Genelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Genelle from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 220 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Genelle 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 Genelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Genelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Genelle, while Georgia, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Genelle
The name Genelle is believed to have originated from the French language. It is a feminine form of the name Geneviève, which has its roots in the Breton language spoken in the region of Brittany, France. The name Geneviève is derived from the Celtic words "gen" meaning "race" or "offspring" and "budic" meaning "blessed" or "fortunate."
The name Genelle gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages, particularly after the 5th century when the story of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, became widely known. According to legend, Saint Genevieve's prayers and guidance helped save the city of Paris from the Huns led by Attila in the year 451.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Genelle can be found in the 12th-century romance "Roman de la Rose" by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In this literary work, a character named Genelle is mentioned as a personification of courtesy and refinement.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Genelle. One of the earliest was Genelle de Chambly, a 13th-century French noblewoman who served as the Lady of Chambly and played a significant role in the governance of the region during her time.
Another notable figure was Genelle de Champeaux, a 14th-century French scholar and theologian who taught at the University of Paris and made influential contributions to the field of scholastic philosophy.
In the 16th century, Genelle de Parthenay was a French noblewoman and author who wrote several works on religious themes and was known for her piety and charitable efforts.
Moving to the 18th century, Genelle Chaumette was a French artist and engraver who specialized in portraiture and contributed to the Rococo style of art during her lifetime (1690-1768).
More recently, Genelle Guzman-McMillan was a 20th-century American activist and advocate for women's rights and social justice. Born in 1914, she played a vital role in the civil rights movement and worked tirelessly to promote equality and empowerment for women and marginalized communities.
People
Genelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Genelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Genelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Genelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,136 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Genelle 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 301,720 US residents.
Is Genelle a common name?
We classify Genelle as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,756 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Genelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Genelle was 1981, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Genelle is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Genelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,223 people with the name Genelle, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,750 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 Genelle 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 Genelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Genelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,231 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Genelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Genelle is White at 54.3%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Genelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Genelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (664 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 Genelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Genelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Genelle 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 Genelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Genelle 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 Genelle 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 Genelle?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.