Jeanie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Jean, derived from the Medieval English Jane.
Name Census estimates that about 11,147 living Americans carry the first name Jeanie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeanie today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeanie births was 1957 (499 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeanie. 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 Jeanie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,749 Americans
Peak year
1957
499 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,047
Tracked since 1882
Census
Jeanie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,967 people with the first name Jeanie, which placed it at #2,088 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
#2,088
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,967 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeanie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeanie is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Jeanie 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 Jeanie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 10,228
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 963
- Black or African American5.0% · 642
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 582
- Two or more races3.3% · 424
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 128
Popularity
Jeanie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeanie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 4,284 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
Jeanie 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 Jeanie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeanies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jeanie, while North Dakota, Connecticut, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 311 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeanie
The name Jeanie is a diminutive or pet form of the female name Jean, which itself is a French feminine form of the Hebrew name John. The name John derives from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name Jeanie likely emerged in Scotland and England in the 16th and 17th centuries as an affectionate variant of Jean.
In Scottish history, the name Jeanie has been associated with the character of Jeanie Deans, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel "The Heart of Midlothian," published in 1818. Jeanie Deans is a young woman who undertakes a journey to London to seek a pardon for her sister, who has been wrongfully condemned.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jeanie is Jeanie Luckie, a Scottish woman born in the late 16th century. She was accused of witchcraft during the Scottish witch trials and was executed in 1649 in Edinburgh.
Another notable historical figure with the name Jeanie was Jeanie Forsyth (1858-1937), a Scottish suffragist and campaigner for women's rights. She played a significant role in the fight for women's suffrage in Scotland and was a prominent member of the Scottish Federation of Women's Suffrage Societies.
In literature, the name Jeanie is associated with the character of Jeanie Robertson, the protagonist in George MacDonald's novel "Sir Gibbie" (1879). She is portrayed as a selfless and compassionate young woman who cares for a mute boy named Gibbie.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Jeanie was Jeanie Deans, the subject of Sir Walter Scott's novel mentioned earlier. Although a fictional character, she has become an iconic figure in Scottish literature and culture, representing perseverance, loyalty, and moral courage.
Another notable Jeanie was Jeanie Winston Sifers (1836-1920), an American writer, and journalist. She was one of the first women to work as a correspondent during the American Civil War and later became an advocate for women's rights and the temperance movement.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures and literary characters who have borne the name Jeanie, a diminutive form with roots in the Hebrew name John and a long-standing association with Scottish culture and literature.
People
Jeanie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeanie 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
Jeanie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeanie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,147 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeanie 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 30,749 US residents.
Is Jeanie a common name?
We classify Jeanie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,126 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeanie most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeanie was 1957, when 499 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeanie is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeanie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,967 people with the name Jeanie, or 4.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,088 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 Jeanie 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 Jeanie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeanie appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,972 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 Jeanie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeanie is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Jeanie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeanie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (10,228 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 Jeanie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeanie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeanie 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 Jeanie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeanie 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 Jeanie 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 are named Jeanie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.