Jedi
A name derived from the fictional order of enlightened warriors in the Star Wars universe.
Name Census estimates that about 299 living Americans carry the first name Jedi. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Jedi today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jedi births was 2016 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jedi. 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
299
~ 1 in 1,146,336 Americans
Peak year
2016
32 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,990
Tracked since 2002
Census
Jedi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 308 people with the first name Jedi, which placed it at #28,952 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
#28,952
National first-name rank
People counted
308
308 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
34.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jedi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jedi is White at 34.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.6%). 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 Jedi 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 Jedi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White34.7% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino27.3% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.6% · 42
- Black or African American12.0% · 37
- Two or more races10.4% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Jedi
Jedi leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jedi as a male name
- Ranked #6,990 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (32 births)
Jedi as a female name
- Ranked #16,282 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2021 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jedi leans strongly male. 262 people counted with this name were male (83.7%), compared with 51 female bearers (16.3%).
Popularity
Jedi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jedi from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 174 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jedi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jedi 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 Jedi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jedis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jedi
The given name Jedi is a modern invention, originating from the fictional universe of the Star Wars media franchise created by George Lucas. It does not have an ancient etymology or historical roots in any particular language or culture. The term "Jedi" was first introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, referring to an ancient order of monks who serve as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy.
The word "Jedi" itself is not derived from any existing word or language. It is a constructed term invented by George Lucas for the fictional universe he created. The name was likely chosen for its distinct sound and to evoke a sense of mysticism and ancient wisdom associated with the order of Jedi knights.
As the Jedi are a fictional concept, there are no historical records or ancient texts that mention this term prior to the Star Wars franchise. The name gained widespread recognition and popularity after the release of the original Star Wars trilogy (1977-1983) and the subsequent prequel trilogy (1999-2005), which explored the origins and backstory of the Jedi Order.
While the Jedi are fictional characters, their names have been adopted by fans and enthusiasts of the Star Wars universe. Some notable individuals who have used the name Jedi include:
1. Jedi Meekers, a former Australian rules football player born in 1990.
2. Jedi Richardson, an American football player born in 1984.
3. Jedi Mind Tricks, an underground hip-hop group formed in 1992.
4. Jedi Dushku, a character played by Eliza Dushku in the television series Dollhouse (2009-2010).
5. Jedi Blue, a character from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series (2008-2020).
It is important to note that these instances of the name Jedi are inspired by the Star Wars franchise and are not derived from any historical or cultural context outside of the fictional universe created by George Lucas.
People
Jedi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jedi 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
Jedi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jedi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 299 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jedi 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 1,146,336 US residents.
Is Jedi a common name?
We classify Jedi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 301 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jedi most popular?
The single biggest year for Jedi was 2016, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jedi is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jedi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 308 people with the name Jedi, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,952 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 Jedi 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 Jedi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jedi leans strongly male. 262 people counted with this name were male (83.7%), compared with 51 female bearers (16.3%). 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 Jedi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jedi is White at 34.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.6%). 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 Jedi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jedi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.7% (107 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 Jedi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jedi a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Jedi 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 Jedi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jedi 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 Jedi 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 called Jedi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.