Jaquita
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "small" or "little one".
Name Census estimates that about 700 living Americans carry the first name Jaquita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jaquita today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaquita births was 1987 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaquita. 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
700
~ 1 in 489,649 Americans
Peak year
1987
46 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,238
Tracked since 1939
Census
Jaquita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 620 people with the first name Jaquita, which placed it at #17,656 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
#17,656
National first-name rank
People counted
620
620 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaquita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaquita is Black at 76.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.1%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Jaquita 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 Jaquita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.0% · 471
- White17.1% · 106
- Two or more races4.0% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Jaquita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaquita from the 1930s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 318 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
Jaquita 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 Jaquita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaquitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama recorded the most babies named Jaquita, while Michigan, Louisiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaquita
The name Jaquita is a feminine diminutive form of the Spanish name Jaca, which itself is derived from the Latin name Jacoba. The name Jacoba ultimately traces its origins back to the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows."
Jaquita emerged as a name in Spain during the Middle Ages, likely first appearing in records and documents from the 13th or 14th century. It was initially a pet name or nickname for women named Jacoba or other variations of the name Jaca.
In medieval Spanish literature, there are references to characters named Jaquita, though none particularly famous or noteworthy. The name was more commonly found in church records and local documents of the time, indicating its use among the general population.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jaquita is Jaquita de Núñez, a Spanish noble and landowner who lived in the late 15th century in the region of Andalusia. Another notable bearer of the name was Jaquita de Mendoza, a Spanish poet and writer who lived in the 16th century and was associated with the literary circles of Renaissance Spain.
In the 17th century, there was a Jaquita de la Cruz, a Spanish nun and mystic who lived in the convent of Santa Clara in Avila, Spain, and was known for her spiritual writings and teachings. A century later, Jaquita María de la Concepción was a Spanish painter active in the late 18th century, known for her religious works and portraits.
Another historical figure with the name Jaquita was Jaquita Pardo Bazán, a Spanish novelist, journalist, and literary critic who lived from 1851 to 1921. She was a prominent figure in the Spanish literary movement known as Naturalism and was highly regarded for her works exploring social and gender issues.
While the name Jaquita has its roots in Spain and the Spanish language, it has also been used in various Latin American countries and communities with Spanish cultural influences. However, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history, with only occasional appearances in records and literature.
People
Jaquita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaquita 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
Jaquita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaquita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 700 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaquita 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 489,649 US residents.
Is Jaquita a common name?
We classify Jaquita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 785 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaquita most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaquita was 1987, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaquita is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jaquita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 620 people with the name Jaquita, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,656 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 Jaquita 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 Jaquita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaquita leans strongly female. 616 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Jaquita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaquita is Black at 76.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.1%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Jaquita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jaquita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (471 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 Jaquita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaquita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jaquita 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 Jaquita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaquita 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 Jaquita 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 Jaquita?
See how many Americans are named Jaquita on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.