Jazz
An English given name derived from the musical style of jazz.
Name Census estimates that about 1,480 living Americans carry the first name Jazz. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Jazz today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jazz births was 1994 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jazz. 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 Jazz with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jazz sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 231,591 Americans
Peak year
1994
63 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,471
Tracked since 1983
Census
Jazz in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,027 people with the first name Jazz, which placed it at #7,506 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
#7,506
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,027 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jazz
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jazz is Black at 41.2%. The next largest groups are White (21.3%) and Hispanic (18.8%). 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 Jazz 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 Jazz at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.2% · 835
- White21.3% · 432
- Hispanic or Latino18.8% · 381
- Two or more races10.4% · 210
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 140
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 29
Gender
Gender distribution for Jazz
Jazz is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,507 total registrations, 897 (59.5%) were male and 610 (40.5%) were female.
Jazz as a male name
- Ranked #4,471 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (37 births)
Jazz as a female name
- Ranked #10,598 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jazz on both sides of the split. Of the 2,023 people counted with this name, 803 were male (39.7%) and 1,220 were female (60.3%).
Popularity
Jazz: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jazz from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 477 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Jazz remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jazz 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 Jazz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jazz' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jazz, while New York, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jazz
The name Jazz is believed to have originated from the African American culture in the early 20th century. It is likely derived from the musical genre of jazz, which has its roots in African and African American musical traditions. The term "jazz" itself is thought to have origins in various slang terms from the early 20th century.
Jazz as a given name was initially used as a nickname or shortened form of names like Jasmine or Jazmyn. However, over time, it gained popularity as a standalone name, reflecting the cultural significance of jazz music in African American communities.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jazz was Jazz Gillum, an American blues harmonica player and singer, born in 1904. Another notable figure was Jazz Gillum, a blues singer and guitarist who was active in the 1920s and 1930s.
In the literary world, Jazz Morrison, an African American novelist, and poet, born in 1931, is known for her works exploring the African American experience. Her novel "Jazz" was published in 1992 and is considered one of her most celebrated works.
Jazz Raycole, an American actress and model, born in 1981, is another prominent individual with the name. She has appeared in several television shows and films, including "My Wife and Kids" and "The Game."
Jazz Jennings, born in 2000, is a transgender rights activist and author. She gained public attention for being one of the youngest people to be identified as transgender and has been an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and education.
While the name Jazz originated within the African American community, it has since gained popularity across various cultures and ethnicities, reflecting the global appeal and influence of jazz music.
People
Jazz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jazz 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
Jazz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jazz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jazz 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 231,591 US residents.
Is Jazz a common name?
We classify Jazz as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,507 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jazz most popular?
The single biggest year for Jazz was 1994, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jazz is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jazz in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,027 people with the name Jazz, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,506 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 Jazz 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 Jazz?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Jazz on both sides of the split. Of the 2,023 people counted with this name, 803 were male (39.7%) and 1,220 were female (60.3%). 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 Jazz?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jazz is Black at 41.2%. The next largest groups are White (21.3%) and Hispanic (18.8%). 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 Jazz most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jazz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.2% (835 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 Jazz in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jazz a male name?
Yes, 59.5% of people registered as Jazz in the SSA data are male. 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 Jazz still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jazz 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 Jazz 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 Jazz as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Jazz on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.