Jannette
Feminine form of John, from Hebrew meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 3,748 living Americans carry the first name Jannette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jannette today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jannette births was 1960 (120 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jannette. 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 Jannette with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 91,450 Americans
Peak year
1960
120 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,313
Tracked since 1894
Census
Jannette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,129 people with the first name Jannette, which placed it at #3,841 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
#3,841
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jannette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jannette is Hispanic at 44.7%. The next largest groups are White (36.1%) and Black (12.6%). 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 Jannette 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 Jannette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.7% · 2,295
- White36.1% · 1,850
- Black or African American12.6% · 648
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 213
- Two or more races2.0% · 104
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
Popularity
Jannette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jannette from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 961 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
Jannette 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 Jannette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jannettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Jannette, while Virginia, Louisiana, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 109 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jannette
The name Jannette has its origins in the French language and culture. It is a feminine form of the name Jean, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "God is gracious." The name Jannette gained popularity during the Middle Ages in France.
In ancient times, the name Jannette appeared in various forms, such as Jehanne, Johanne, and Jeannette, in historical records and documents from France and other parts of Europe. These variations were often used interchangeably and reflected regional spellings and pronunciations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jannette can be found in the life of Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the famous French heroine and Catholic saint. Her birth name was Jeanne d'Arc, which is closely related to the name Jannette.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Jannette. One example is Jannette Rankin (1880-1973), an American politician and activist who became the first woman elected to the United States Congress in 1916. She was a leading figure in the women's suffrage movement and a pacifist.
Another prominent figure was Jannette Thurber (1850-1944), an American artist and illustrator known for her work in children's literature. She illustrated several books, including "The Brownies: Their Book" and "The Brownies at Home."
In the field of literature, Jannette Turner Hospital (1942-2022) was an Australian novelist and writer. Her novel "The Last Magician" won the prestigious Patrick White Award in 1993, recognizing her significant contribution to Australian literature.
Jannette Gillies Klepper (1868-1944) was a Canadian social reformer and activist who advocated for women's rights and the welfare of children and families. She played a crucial role in establishing the Children's Aid Society in Ontario.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Jannette throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance across various fields and regions.
People
Jannette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jannette 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
Jannette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jannette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,748 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jannette 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 91,450 US residents.
Is Jannette a common name?
We classify Jannette as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jannette most popular?
The single biggest year for Jannette was 1960, when 120 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jannette is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jannette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,129 people with the name Jannette, or 1.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,841 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 Jannette 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 Jannette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jannette appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,126 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Jannette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jannette is Hispanic at 44.7%. The next largest groups are White (36.1%) and Black (12.6%). 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 Jannette most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jannette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (2,295 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 Jannette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jannette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jannette 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 Jannette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jannette 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 Jannette 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 Jannette?
Find out how many Americans are named Jannette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.