Ginette
A feminine French diminutive of Geneviève, meaning "White-Wave" or "White-Path".
Name Census estimates that about 738 living Americans carry the first name Ginette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ginette today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ginette births was 1959 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ginette. 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
738
~ 1 in 464,437 Americans
Peak year
1959
34 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,394
Tracked since 1940
Census
Ginette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,513 people with the first name Ginette, which placed it at #6,398 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
#6,398
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,513 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ginette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ginette is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Black (32.4%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Ginette 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 Ginette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.5% · 1,245
- Black or African American32.4% · 814
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 387
- Two or more races1.5% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Ginette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ginette from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 204 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ginette 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 Ginette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ginettes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ginette
The name Ginette is a French diminutive form of the name Geneviève, which is derived from the Breton name Gwenvaew. Gwenvaew is composed of the elements "gwen" meaning "white, fair, blessed" and "vaew" meaning "smooth". The name ultimately traces its roots back to the ancient Celtic language.
Geneviève was the name of the patron saint of Paris, who lived in the 5th century AD. She is remembered for leading the people of Paris during the time of the Huns' invasion and is said to have performed miracles. The popularity of the name Geneviève in France led to the creation of various diminutive forms, including Ginette.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ginette can be found in the 14th century, in reference to Ginette de Cissey, a French noblewoman from the region of Burgundy. In the 16th century, Ginette Acarie, a French laywoman and mystic, played a significant role in the spiritual renewal movement in France.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ginette. Ginette Leclerc (1912-1992) was a French actress and singer, known for her roles in numerous films and stage productions. Ginette Neveu (1919-1949) was a renowned French violinist who tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 30.
Ginette Achalme (1916-2004) was a French writer and director, known for her contributions to the world of children's literature and television. Ginette Kolinka (1925-2011) was a French resistance fighter during World War II, recognized for her bravery and commitment to the cause of freedom.
Ginette Reno (born 1946) is a celebrated Canadian singer and actress, known for her successful career spanning several decades and her contributions to French-Canadian culture.
People
Ginette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ginette 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
Ginette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ginette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 738 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ginette 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 464,437 US residents.
Is Ginette a common name?
We classify Ginette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 881 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ginette most popular?
The single biggest year for Ginette was 1959, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ginette is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ginette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,513 people with the name Ginette, or 0.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,398 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 Ginette 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 Ginette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ginette appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,514 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Ginette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ginette is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Black (32.4%) and Hispanic (15.4%). 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 Ginette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ginette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.5% (1,245 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 Ginette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ginette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ginette 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 Ginette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ginette 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 Ginette 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 Ginette?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.