Jamesetta
A feminine variant of James, a masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter".
Name Census estimates that about 408 living Americans carry the first name Jamesetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamesetta today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamesetta births was 1950 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamesetta. 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
408
~ 1 in 840,084 Americans
Peak year
1950
23 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1994 SSA rank
#14,293
Tracked since 1924
Census
Jamesetta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 528 people with the first name Jamesetta, which placed it at #19,834 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
#19,834
National first-name rank
People counted
528
528 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamesetta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamesetta is Black at 87.3%. The next largest groups are White (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Jamesetta 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 Jamesetta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.3% · 461
- White8.7% · 46
- Two or more races2.1% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Jamesetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamesetta from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamesetta 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 Jamesetta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamesettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, Missouri recorded the most babies named Jamesetta, while Missouri, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamesetta
The given name Jamesetta has its origins in the English language and can be traced back to the 17th century. It is a feminine form of the male name James, which is derived from the Hebrew name Jacob. Jacob is derived from the word "ya'aqob," meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows at the heel." The name Jacob has biblical roots and is found in the Old Testament, where it refers to one of the patriarchs of the Israelites.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jamesetta can be found in parish records from the late 1600s and early 1700s in England. It was likely a combination of the name James and the feminine suffix "-etta," which was commonly used to create feminine versions of male names during that time period.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Jamesetta was Jamesetta Hawkins (1758-1837), an American writer and poet from Virginia. She is known for her work "The Columbian Muse," which was published in 1809 and is considered one of the earliest works of poetry by an African American author.
Another historical figure with the name Jamesetta was Jamesetta Rollins (1823-1914), an American teacher and activist from New York. She was involved in the abolitionist movement and worked to promote education for African American children.
In the 19th century, Jamesetta Fales (1838-1909) was a prominent American educator and author from Rhode Island. She wrote several books on history and literature and was involved in the women's suffrage movement.
Jamesetta Hawkins (1900-1988), an American gospel singer and composer from Minnesota, was a notable figure in the 20th century. She was known for her contributions to the development of gospel music and her collaborations with other influential gospel artists.
Jamesetta Jennings (1914-2001) was an American civil rights activist from Oklahoma. She was involved in the NAACP and worked to desegregate public facilities and promote equal rights for African Americans.
While the name Jamesetta has seen some use throughout history, it has never been a particularly common name. However, it has been carried by individuals who have made significant contributions in various fields, including literature, education, music, and civil rights.
People
Jamesetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamesetta 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
Jamesetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamesetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 408 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamesetta 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 840,084 US residents.
Is Jamesetta a common name?
We classify Jamesetta 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, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamesetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamesetta was 1950, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamesetta is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamesetta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 528 people with the name Jamesetta, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,834 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 Jamesetta 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 Jamesetta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamesetta appears almost entirely female. Of the 531 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Jamesetta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamesetta is Black at 87.3%. The next largest groups are White (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Jamesetta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamesetta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.3% (461 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 Jamesetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamesetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamesetta 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 Jamesetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamesetta 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 Jamesetta 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 Americans are named Jamesetta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.