Jadis
Originally derived from Turkish meaning "magnificent" or "majesty".
Name Census estimates that about 394 living Americans carry the first name Jadis. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 53.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Jadis today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jadis births was 2006 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jadis. 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
394
~ 1 in 869,935 Americans
Peak year
2006
33 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,250
Tracked since 1999
Census
Jadis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 357 people with the first name Jadis, which placed it at #26,204 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
#26,204
National first-name rank
People counted
357
357 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
35.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jadis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jadis is Black at 35.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and White (23.2%). 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 Jadis 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 Jadis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American35.9% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino24.6% · 88
- White23.2% · 83
- Two or more races9.8% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Jadis
Jadis is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 398 total registrations, 184 (46.2%) were male and 214 (53.8%) were female.
Jadis as a male name
- Ranked #9,250 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2000 (20 births)
Jadis as a female name
- Ranked #14,130 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jadis on both sides of the split. Of the 348 people counted with this name, 141 were male (40.5%) and 207 were female (59.5%).
Popularity
Jadis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jadis from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 199 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jadis remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jadis 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 Jadis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jadis
The name Jadis has its roots in the French language, deriving from the Old French term "jadis," which means "formerly" or "in the past." This name is believed to have originated during the Middle Ages in France, where it was used as a literary term to evoke a sense of nostalgia and bygone eras.
Jadis first gained prominence in the literary work "Le Roman de la Rose," a medieval French allegorical poem composed by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun in the 13th century. The poem features the character of Jadis, personifying the concept of the past and serving as a symbolic representation of the longing for bygone times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Jadis as a given name dates back to the 15th century when Jadis de Layre, a French noblewoman, was mentioned in historical records from the region of Burgundy. Unfortunately, little is known about her life and the circumstances surrounding her name.
In the 16th century, Jadis appeared as a character in the epic poem "La Franciade" by Pierre de Ronsard, a renowned French Renaissance poet. This literary work celebrated the history and mythology of France, with Jadis embodying the spirit of the nation's ancient past.
One notable figure bearing the name Jadis was Jadis de Beaufort (1510-1578), a French courtier and diplomat who served under King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. She played a significant role in the negotiations during the Italian War of 1551-1559.
During the 17th century, Jadis Delaunay (1620-1692) gained recognition as a French playwright and actress. She was part of the famous Comédie-Française theater company and contributed to the development of French drama during the Baroque period.
In the realm of literature, Jadis is perhaps most famously associated with the character of the White Witch, also known as Jadis, the Queen of Narnia, from C.S. Lewis's beloved fantasy series "The Chronicles of Narnia." Published in the mid-20th century, this fictional character embodied the personification of evil and served as a central antagonist in the story.
While the name Jadis has its origins in French literature and history, it has also been embraced by individuals from various cultural backgrounds throughout the centuries, each adding their unique stories and legacies to the rich tapestry of this name's history.
People
Jadis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jadis 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
Jadis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jadis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 394 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jadis 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 869,935 US residents.
Is Jadis a common name?
We classify Jadis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jadis most popular?
The single biggest year for Jadis was 2006, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jadis is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jadis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 357 people with the name Jadis, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,204 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 Jadis 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 Jadis?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jadis on both sides of the split. Of the 348 people counted with this name, 141 were male (40.5%) and 207 were female (59.5%). 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 Jadis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jadis is Black at 35.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and White (23.2%). 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 Jadis most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jadis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.9% (128 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 Jadis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jadis a female name?
Yes, 53.8% of people registered as Jadis 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 Jadis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jadis 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 Jadis 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 Jadis?
Find out how many Americans are named Jadis on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.