Geneve
From French origin, signifying "Geneva" or "juniper".
Name Census estimates that about 171 living Americans carry the first name Geneve. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geneve today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geneve births was 1921 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geneve. 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 Geneve with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
171
~ 1 in 2,004,411 Americans
Peak year
1921
20 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,067
Tracked since 1893
Census
Geneve in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 405 people with the first name Geneve, which placed it at #23,978 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
#23,978
National first-name rank
People counted
405
405 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geneve
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geneve is White at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Black (22.0%). 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 Geneve 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 Geneve at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.5% · 160
- Hispanic or Latino24.7% · 100
- Black or African American22.0% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 32
- Two or more races4.0% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 8
Popularity
Geneve: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geneve from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 140 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
Geneve 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 Geneve during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Geneves live
Origin
Meaning and history of Geneve
Geneve is a feminine given name derived from the French name for the city of Geneva, which was originally known as Genava in ancient Roman times. The name has its origins in the Celtic Gaulish language and likely meant "estuary" or "mouth of the river".
The earliest recorded use of the name Geneve can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was used as a place name referring to the city of Geneva in Switzerland. Over time, the name evolved from its original Celtic roots and became associated with the French city's reputation as a center of diplomacy, banking, and cultural exchange.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Geneve was Geneve de Luzigny, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her role in negotiating a peace treaty between France and England during the Hundred Years' War.
Another notable figure with the name Geneve was Geneve Hecker (1520-1585), a German Protestant reformer and theologian who played a significant role in the spread of the Reformation movement in Germany.
In the 17th century, Geneve Arnauld (1612-1694) was a French theologian and philosopher who was a prominent figure in the Jansenist movement, a Catholic reform movement that emphasized original sin, divine grace, and predestination.
Fast forward to the 19th century, Geneve Woodworth (1812-1892) was an American educator and women's rights activist who founded the Woodworth Female Seminary in Pulaski, Tennessee, one of the earliest institutions of higher education for women in the United States.
Finally, in the 20th century, Geneve Galloway (1902-1992) was a Canadian politician and activist who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan and was a vocal advocate for women's rights and social justice issues.
While the name Geneve has its roots in the ancient Celtic language, its association with the city of Geneva and its reputation for diplomacy, culture, and intellectual exchange have contributed to its enduring popularity as a feminine given name throughout history.
People
Geneve + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geneve 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
Geneve: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geneve?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 171 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geneve 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 2,004,411 US residents.
Is Geneve a common name?
We classify Geneve as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geneve most popular?
The single biggest year for Geneve was 1921, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geneve is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geneve in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 405 people with the name Geneve, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,978 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 Geneve 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 Geneve?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geneve leans strongly female. 400 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Geneve?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geneve is White at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.7%) and Black (22.0%). 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 Geneve most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geneve in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.5% (160 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 Geneve in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geneve a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Geneve 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 Geneve still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geneve 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 Geneve 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 named Geneve?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.