Janelle
A feminine name of French origin meaning "little Jane" or "young woman".
Name Census estimates that about 50,884 living Americans carry the first name Janelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janelle today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janelle births was 1979 (1,421 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janelle. 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 Janelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Janelle is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 86 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
51K
~ 1 in 6,736 Americans
Peak year
1979
1,421 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2005 SSA rank
#776
Tracked since 1912
Census
Janelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 48,981 people with the first name Janelle, which placed it at #918 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
#918
National first-name rank
People counted
49K
48,981 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janelle is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Black (15.6%). 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 Janelle 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 Janelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.6% · 28,210
- Hispanic or Latino17.2% · 8,412
- Black or African American15.6% · 7,644
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 2,172
- Two or more races4.2% · 2,042
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 501
Gender
Gender distribution for Janelle
Out of the 56,623 babies given the name Janelle since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Janelle as a male name
- Ranked #12,198 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1982 (10 births)
Janelle as a female name
- Ranked #776 in 2024
- 362 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (1,416 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 48,979 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Janelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janelle from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 12,637 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janelle 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 Janelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Janelle, while Vermont, Delaware, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,029 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Janelle
The name Janelle is a feminine given name with French origins, derived from the French name Jeanne, which itself stems from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious." The earliest known use of the name Janelle dates back to the late 19th century.
In its French form, Jeanne, the name has a rich history, with its roots tracing back to the Biblical figure John the Baptist. It became a popular name across Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in France, where it was associated with several prominent historical figures.
One notable bearer of the name was Jeanne d'Arc, also known as Joan of Arc (circa 1412-1431), the renowned French heroine who played a pivotal role in the Hundred Years' War against England. Her bravery and unwavering faith inspired generations to come.
Another famous Jeanne was Jeanne de Valois (1556-1644), the daughter of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine de' Medici. She became the Queen of Navarre through her marriage to Antoine de Bourbon.
In the realm of literature, Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1780), a French novelist and educator, is credited with writing the enduring fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast," which has been adapted countless times throughout the centuries.
The name Janelle gained popularity in the English-speaking world during the 20th century, possibly influenced by the French name Janelle, which is a diminutive form of Jeanne. One notable bearer of the name was Janelle Commissiong (1953-2022), a South African singer and anti-apartheid activist who used her music to champion social justice.
Another prominent figure with the name Janelle was Janelle Monáe (born 1985), an American singer-songwriter, actress, and producer known for her unique blend of various musical genres and her advocacy for social causes.
Janelle Alie (born 1972), a Canadian actress and voice artist, has lent her talents to numerous animated series and video games, leaving an indelible mark on the entertainment industry.
People
Janelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janelle 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
Janelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50,884 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janelle 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 6,736 US residents.
Is Janelle a common name?
We classify Janelle as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 56,623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Janelle was 1979, when 1,421 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janelle is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 48,981 people with the name Janelle, or 16.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #918 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 Janelle 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 Janelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 48,979 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 Janelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janelle is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Black (15.6%). 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 Janelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Janelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (28,210 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 Janelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janelle a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Janelle 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 Janelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janelle 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 Janelle 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 have the name Janelle?
See how many people share the name Janelle on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.