Jerek
Variant form of the masculine name Jeremiah meaning "appointed by God".
Name Census estimates that about 495 living Americans carry the first name Jerek. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jerek today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerek births was 2013 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerek. 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
495
~ 1 in 692,433 Americans
Peak year
2013
24 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,522
Tracked since 1979
Census
Jerek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 442 people with the first name Jerek, which placed it at #22,485 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
#22,485
National first-name rank
People counted
442
442 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerek is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.0%) and Black (14.7%). 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 Jerek 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 Jerek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 232
- Hispanic or Latino21.0% · 93
- Black or African American14.7% · 65
- Two or more races5.2% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 12
Popularity
Jerek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerek from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 161 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jerek 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 Jerek 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 Jerek
The name Jerek is of Slavic origin, tracing its roots back to the countries of Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic. It is believed to have derived from the Old Slavic word "jerech," meaning "eagle." This connection to the majestic bird of prey suggests a association with strength, courage, and nobility.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jerek can be found in the 12th-century Polish chronicle, the "Gesta Principum Polonorum," where it is mentioned as the name of a nobleman from the Piast dynasty. This historical record provides evidence of the name's usage during the medieval period in the region.
In the 14th century, a Jerek Krasicki was a prominent Polish nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Polish-Lithuanian Union. His bravery and leadership on the battlefield earned him a place in the annals of Polish history.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Jerek Chmielowski (1550-1612) was a renowned Polish poet and playwright. His works, which often explored themes of love and patriotism, were highly influential in shaping the literary landscape of the time.
In the 18th century, Jerek Sobieski (1725-1783) was a Polish nobleman and military officer who served in the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was known for his valor and loyalty to the crown.
Another prominent figure was Jerek Kosciuszko (1746-1817), a Polish-Belarusian military leader and a national hero of Poland, Belarus, and the United States. He fought for independence and freedom, leading the Kosciuszko Uprising against the Russian Empire and later joining the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army.
These historical examples demonstrate the enduring presence of the name Jerek across various periods and its association with individuals who have left their mark on the annals of history, particularly in the realms of military prowess, literature, and nobility.
People
Jerek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerek 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
Jerek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 495 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerek 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 692,433 US residents.
Is Jerek a common name?
We classify Jerek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 504 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerek most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerek was 2013, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerek is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 442 people with the name Jerek, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,485 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 Jerek 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 Jerek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerek appears almost entirely male. Of the 444 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jerek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerek is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.0%) and Black (14.7%). 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 Jerek most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jerek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (232 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 Jerek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerek a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jerek 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 Jerek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerek 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 Jerek 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 share the name Jerek?
Want to know how many people share the name Jerek? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.