Jeni
Unusual English diminutive form of the feminine name Jennifer.
Name Census estimates that about 2,542 living Americans carry the first name Jeni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jeni today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeni births was 1982 (123 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeni. 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 Jeni with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 134,836 Americans
Peak year
1982
123 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,229
Tracked since 1936
Census
Jeni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,263 people with the first name Jeni, which placed it at #5,308 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
#5,308
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,263 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jeni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeni is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Jeni 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 Jeni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.0% · 2,381
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 425
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 235
- Two or more races3.5% · 114
- Black or African American2.7% · 87
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 21
Popularity
Jeni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeni from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 823 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
Jeni 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 Jeni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jenis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Jeni, while Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeni
The name Jeni is a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Jeniah, derived from the biblical name Jemimah. It has its origins in the Old Testament, where Jemimah is mentioned as one of the three beautiful daughters of Job. The name Jemimah is believed to mean "dove" or "pure" in Hebrew.
In the book of Job, Jemimah is described as being blessed with exceptional beauty and is regarded as a symbol of virtue and purity. This association with purity and innocence has carried over to the diminutive form, Jeni, which has been used as a given name in various cultures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jeni can be traced back to the Middle Ages in certain European regions. One notable bearer of the name was Jeni of Treviso, an Italian nun and mystic who lived in the 14th century. She is known for her visions and spiritual writings, which were influential in her time.
Another historical figure with the name Jeni was Jeni Le Gon, a French poet and writer who lived in the 16th century. She was renowned for her romantic poetry and is considered one of the earliest female writers to gain recognition in France.
In the 19th century, Jeni Marvin Pattison was an American educator and author who wrote several books on teaching methods and education. She was a pioneer in the field of teacher training and her works were widely influential in the United States.
Jeni Lemond was a notable American painter and illustrator in the early 20th century. She was known for her vibrant landscapes and portraits, and her works were featured in various exhibitions and publications during her lifetime.
More recently, Jeni Britton Bauer is an American entrepreneur and chef, best known for founding the popular ice cream company Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Her innovative flavors and commitment to using high-quality ingredients have earned her widespread recognition in the culinary world.
People
Jeni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeni 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
Jeni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,542 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeni 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 134,836 US residents.
Is Jeni a common name?
We classify Jeni as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,856 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeni most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeni was 1982, when 123 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeni 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 Jeni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,263 people with the name Jeni, or 1.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,308 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 Jeni 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 Jeni?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jeni appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,267 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Jeni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jeni is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Jeni most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jeni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (2,381 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 Jeni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeni 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 Jeni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeni 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 Jeni 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 the name Jeni?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.