Jairo
A Spanish variation of the Biblical name Jairus.
Name Census estimates that about 11,032 living Americans carry the first name Jairo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jairo today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jairo births was 2008 (473 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jairo. 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 Jairo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,069 Americans
Peak year
2008
473 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#935
Tracked since 1950
Census
Jairo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 18,461 people with the first name Jairo, which placed it at #1,683 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
#1,683
National first-name rank
People counted
18K
18,461 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jairo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jairo is Hispanic at 97.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Jairo 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 Jairo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.0% · 17,909
- White1.9% · 345
- Black or African American0.5% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 84
- Two or more races0.1% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 17
Popularity
Jairo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jairo from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,777 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jairo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jairo 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 Jairo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jairos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jairo, while Iowa, Connecticut, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 262 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jairo
The name Jairo has its origins in the Spanish language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Jair, which means "he enlightens" or "he shines." The name is derived from the Hebrew word "or," which means light or illumination.
In the Bible, Jair was a judge of ancient Israel who is mentioned in the Book of Judges. He was a wealthy man who had thirty sons and possessed thirty cities in the land of Gilead. The name Jair is also mentioned in the Book of Numbers as one of the descendants of Manasseh, a son of Joseph.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jairo can be traced back to the Middle Ages in Spain. One notable person with this name was Jairo de Valencia, a Spanish poet and writer who lived in the 13th century and wrote works in both Spanish and Latin.
Another famous bearer of the name Jairo was Jairo Cuevas, a Mexican painter and muralist who was born in 1932 and is renowned for his vibrant and colorful works depicting Mexican culture and history.
In the world of sports, Jairo Arreola is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a defender and represented his country in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Jairo Ramos is a renowned Colombian artist known for his intricate and detailed ink drawings. He was born in 1945 and has had his works exhibited in numerous galleries and museums around the world.
Jairo Quintana is a Colombian professional cyclist who has competed in several prestigious events, including the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He was born in 1986 and is known for his climbing abilities in mountain stages.
The name Jairo has been used across various cultures and time periods, with its roots dating back to ancient Hebrew and its presence in Spanish-speaking regions since the Middle Ages. While it may not be as common as some other names, it has been borne by notable figures throughout history, spanning literature, art, sports, and other fields.
People
Jairo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jairo 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
Jairo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jairo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,032 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jairo 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 31,069 US residents.
Is Jairo a common name?
We classify Jairo as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jairo most popular?
The single biggest year for Jairo was 2008, when 473 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jairo is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jairo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 18,461 people with the name Jairo, or 6.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,683 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 Jairo 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 Jairo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jairo appears almost entirely male. Of the 18,460 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jairo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jairo is Hispanic at 97.0%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Jairo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jairo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.0% (17,909 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 Jairo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jairo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jairo in the SSA data are male. 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 Jairo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jairo 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 Jairo 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 Jairo?
You can see how many people have the name Jairo on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.