Janessa
A feminine name derived from Jane, of English origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 14,244 living Americans carry the first name Janessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janessa today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janessa births was 2009 (556 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janessa. 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 Janessa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 24,063 Americans
Peak year
2009
556 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,575
Tracked since 1954
Census
Janessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,376 people with the first name Janessa, which placed it at #2,276 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
#2,276
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,376 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
37.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janessa is Hispanic at 37.9%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Janessa 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 Janessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino37.9% · 4,306
- White36.7% · 4,178
- Black or African American11.4% · 1,299
- Two or more races8.7% · 988
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 418
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 187
Popularity
Janessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janessa 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 4,712 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janessa 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 Janessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janessas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Janessa, while South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 268 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Janessa
The name Janessa is a modern feminine variation of the name Janessa, which has its origins in the Hebrew language. The name traces its roots back to the biblical name Yochanan, which means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God is merciful."
The earliest known recorded use of the name Janessa dates back to the late 20th century. It is believed to have been created as a combination of the names Jane and Vanessa, both of which were popular names during that time period.
While the name Janessa itself does not appear in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Hebrew roots connect it to the biblical figure John the Baptist, whose name was Yochanan in Hebrew.
One of the earliest known people to bear the name Janessa was Janessa Brazil, an American actress born in 1978. She is best known for her role in the television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Another notable Janessa is Janessa Crymes, an American basketball player who played in the WNBA for teams like the Seattle Storm and the San Antonio Stars in the early 2000s.
In the field of music, Janessa Ray is a Canadian singer-songwriter who gained popularity in the late 2000s with her album "Fairytale and Disaster." She was born in 1985.
Janessa Gourley is an Australian businesswoman and entrepreneur who co-founded the fashion and lifestyle brand Kikki.K in 2001. She was born in 1978.
Janessa Slaughter, born in 1983, is an American model and actress who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "Entourage" and "The Hangover Part III."
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Janessa throughout history, showcasing its modern yet meaningful origins.
People
Janessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janessa 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
Janessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,244 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janessa 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 24,063 US residents.
Is Janessa a common name?
We classify Janessa as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Janessa was 2009, when 556 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janessa is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,376 people with the name Janessa, or 3.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,276 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 Janessa 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 Janessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janessa appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,381 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 Janessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janessa is Hispanic at 37.9%. The next largest groups are White (36.7%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Janessa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Janessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.9% (4,306 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 Janessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Janessa 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 Janessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janessa 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 Janessa 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 common is the name Janessa?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Janessa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.