Jeann
A variant spelling of the French feminine name Jeanne, meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Jeann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeann today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeann births was 1928 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeann. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Jeann is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Jeanns were born before 1965.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jeann. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1928
7 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1971 SSA rank
#8,829
Tracked since 1928
Census
Jeann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 242 people with the first name Jeann, which placed it at #33,953 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
#33,953
National first-name rank
People counted
242
242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeann is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Jeann 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 Jeann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.6% · 154
- Hispanic or Latino16.9% · 41
- Black or African American8.3% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.0% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 5
- Two or more races2.1% · 5
Popularity
Jeann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeann from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 19 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeann 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 Jeann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeann
The name Jeann has its origins in the French and English cultures, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a variant spelling of the more common name Jean, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "God is gracious."
During the medieval period, the name Jean gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and England. It was often used as a masculine name, although there are also instances of it being used for females. The variant spelling Jeann emerged as a way to distinguish it from the more common Jean, possibly to denote a different pronunciation or regional variation.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Jeann can be found in the 13th century chronicles of the French historian Jean de Joinville, who wrote about the life of King Louis IX (Saint Louis). In these chronicles, Jeann is mentioned as the name of a knight who accompanied the king on the Seventh Crusade.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jeann. One of the most famous was Jeann Froissart (c. 1337-1405), a renowned French chronicler and poet known for his vivid accounts of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. His chronicles provide invaluable insights into the lives and events of the 14th century.
Another notable figure was Jeann Bodin (c. 1530-1596), a French jurist, philosopher, and political thinker who wrote extensively on topics such as sovereignty, republicanism, and the legal system. His work, "Six Books of the Commonwealth," published in 1576, is considered a significant contribution to early modern political theory.
In the realm of art, Jeann Clouet (c. 1480-1541) was a renowned French Renaissance painter and miniaturist who worked at the court of King Francis I. His portraits of the French royal family and nobility are celebrated for their detail and realism, capturing the essence of the Renaissance era.
Moving forward in time, Jeann Sibelius (1865-1957) was a Finnish composer and violinist who is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late Romantic and early modern periods. His best-known works include the Finlandia tone poem, the Violin Concerto, and numerous symphonies that draw inspiration from Finnish mythology and folklore.
While the name Jeann has its roots in French and English cultures, it has also been used in other parts of the world, albeit less frequently. The variant spellings and pronunciations have contributed to its diverse historical and cultural associations across different regions and time periods.
People
Jeann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeann 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
Jeann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeann 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Jeann a common name?
We classify Jeann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeann most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeann was 1928, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeann is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 242 people with the name Jeann, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,953 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 Jeann 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 Jeann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeann leans strongly female. 222 people counted with this name were female (89.2%), compared with 27 male bearers (10.8%). 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 Jeann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeann is White at 63.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Jeann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.6% (154 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 Jeann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeann 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 Jeann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeann 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 Jeann 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 Jeann as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.