Jacara
A feminine name derived from the Brazilian Portuguese word for alligator.
Name Census estimates that about 406 living Americans carry the first name Jacara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jacara today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jacara births was 1998 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jacara. 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
406
~ 1 in 844,223 Americans
Peak year
1998
70 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2017 SSA rank
#16,882
Tracked since 1984
Census
Jacara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 368 people with the first name Jacara, which placed it at #25,680 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
#25,680
National first-name rank
People counted
368
368 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jacara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacara is Black at 89.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.6%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Jacara 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 Jacara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.7% · 330
- White4.6% · 17
- Two or more races4.1% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Jacara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jacara from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 211 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jacara 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 Jacara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jacaras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Illinois, Mississippi, Florida recorded the most babies named Jacara, while Virginia, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jacara
The name Jacara is believed to have originated from an ancient Tupi-Guarani language spoken by indigenous tribes in the coastal regions of present-day Brazil. The Tupi-Guarani languages were widely spoken in South America prior to the arrival of European colonizers.
The name Jacara is thought to be derived from the Tupi-Guarani word "yakarã," which means "crocodile" or "alligator." This suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon individuals with a perceived connection to these reptiles, either through physical characteristics, personality traits, or cultural significance.
Records of the name Jacara can be traced back to the 16th century, when Portuguese explorers and missionaries first encountered the indigenous tribes of Brazil. The earliest known mention of the name appears in a Portuguese document from 1585, which describes an encounter with a Tupi-Guarani chief named Jacara.
Throughout the colonial period, the name Jacara was occasionally adopted by Portuguese settlers and their descendants, although it remained relatively uncommon outside of Brazil and the surrounding regions. One notable historical figure was Jacara de Sousa (1601-1673), a Brazilian landowner and explorer who played a role in the early colonization of the Amazon basin.
In the 19th century, the name gained some popularity among Brazilian aristocratic families, possibly as a way to honor their indigenous heritage or as a nod to the country's natural wonders. Jacara Ferreira (1815-1888) was a prominent Brazilian politician and statesman who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during the reign of Emperor Pedro II.
Another significant figure was Jacara Andrade (1876-1945), a Brazilian writer and journalist who was influential in the Modernist literary movement of the early 20th century. His works often explored themes of national identity and the struggle between traditional and modern values in Brazilian society.
In more recent times, the name Jacara has been less commonly used, although it still holds a certain cultural significance in Brazil. Jacara Santos (1941-2022) was a renowned Brazilian artist and sculptor, known for her works that celebrated the indigenous cultures and natural landscapes of her homeland.
While the name Jacara remains relatively rare outside of Brazil, its origins and historical associations with the Tupi-Guarani culture and the country's rich natural heritage have made it a unique and distinctive name with deep roots in South American history.
People
Jacara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jacara 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
Jacara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jacara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 406 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jacara 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 844,223 US residents.
Is Jacara a common name?
We classify Jacara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 417 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jacara most popular?
The single biggest year for Jacara was 1998, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jacara is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jacara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 368 people with the name Jacara, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,680 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 Jacara 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 Jacara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jacara leans strongly female. 352 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 11 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Jacara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacara is Black at 89.7%. The next largest groups are White (4.6%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Jacara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jacara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (330 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 Jacara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jacara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jacara 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 Jacara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jacara 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 Jacara 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 Jacara?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.