Jeanna
A feminine name of English origin, a variation of Jeanne or Jane meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 7,826 living Americans carry the first name Jeanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeanna today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeanna births was 1970 (299 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeanna. 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 Jeanna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.8K
~ 1 in 43,797 Americans
Peak year
1970
299 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,368
Tracked since 1926
Census
Jeanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,700 people with the first name Jeanna, which placed it at #2,937 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
#2,937
National first-name rank
People counted
7.7K
7,700 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeanna is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Jeanna 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 Jeanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.4% · 6,034
- Black or African American7.2% · 551
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 516
- Two or more races3.8% · 296
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 226
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 77
Popularity
Jeanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeanna from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,360 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeanna 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 Jeanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jeannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jeanna, while Maryland, Idaho, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 146 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeanna
The given name Jeanna has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, and is a feminine form of the name John, which means "Yahweh is gracious." The earliest known spelling of the name was "Johanna," which was derived from the Hebrew name "Yochanan."
The name Jeanna gained widespread popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe, where it was commonly used as a Christian name. It was often associated with various saints and biblical figures, such as Saint Johanna, who was one of the women who ministered to Jesus during his ministry.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jeanna can be found in the 13th century, when Jeanne d'Arc, also known as Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the famous French heroine and Catholic saint, bore the name. Her unwavering faith and bravery in leading the French army during the Hundred Years' War made her an iconic figure in French history.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jeanna was Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry (1743-1793), a French courtesan who became the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was known for her beauty and influence at the French court before her execution during the French Revolution.
In the 16th century, Jeanne d'Albret (1528-1572) was the Queen of Navarre, a powerful ruler who played a significant role in the French Wars of Religion. She was a prominent figure in the Huguenot movement and worked to establish Protestantism in her kingdom.
During the Renaissance period, Jeanne Seymour (c. 1508-1537) was the third wife of King Henry VIII of England. She gave birth to the future King Edward VI and was regarded as a virtuous and dutiful queen consort.
In the 20th century, Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017) was a renowned French actress and singer, known for her roles in films such as "Jules and Jim" and "The Bride Wore Black." She received numerous accolades for her contributions to cinema, including an Honorary Oscar in 1998.
People
Jeanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeanna 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
Jeanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,826 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeanna 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 43,797 US residents.
Is Jeanna a common name?
We classify Jeanna as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,862 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeanna was 1970, when 299 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeanna is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jeanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,700 people with the name Jeanna, or 2.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,937 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 Jeanna 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 Jeanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,696 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 Jeanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeanna is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Jeanna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (6,034 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 Jeanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeanna 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 Jeanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeanna 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 Jeanna 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 Jeanna?
Want to know how many people share the name Jeanna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.