Jestin
A masculine name derived from a French surname meaning "from Geste".
Name Census estimates that about 1,167 living Americans carry the first name Jestin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jestin today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jestin births was 2001 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jestin. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 293,706 Americans
Peak year
2001
48 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,307
Tracked since 1973
Census
Jestin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,062 people with the first name Jestin, which placed it at #11,892 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
#11,892
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,062 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jestin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jestin is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Jestin 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 Jestin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.3% · 513
- Black or African American26.2% · 278
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.4% · 100
- Two or more races4.8% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 17
Popularity
Jestin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jestin from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 328 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jestin 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 Jestin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jestins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Florida, Michigan recorded the most babies named Jestin, while Georgia, Louisiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jestin
The name Jestin is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is a variant of the name Justin, which is derived from the Latin name Justinus, meaning "just" or "righteous." The name Jestin was likely influenced by the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, when many French and Norman names were introduced to the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jestin can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use among the Norman nobility who settled in England during that period.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Jestin was primarily used by the upper classes and nobility in England and parts of France. It gained popularity among commoners in the 16th and 17th centuries, coinciding with the Protestant Reformation and the rise of Puritanism in England.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Jestin include Jestin de Courtenay (1153-1216), a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade. Another was Jestin Fitzwalter (1190-1235), an English nobleman and sheriff of Wiltshire during the reign of King John.
In the 18th century, Jestin Harley (1714-1778) was a British Member of Parliament and landowner from Herefordshire. Jestin Smeeton (1749-1821) was an English clergyman and author who wrote extensively on religious topics.
During the 19th century, Jestin Holman (1817-1897) was a prominent American abolitionist and women's rights activist from Massachusetts. He was involved in the Underground Railroad and worked closely with notable figures like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.
While the name Jestin has waned in popularity in recent times, it continues to hold historical significance, particularly in its connection to the Norman heritage of England and the sociopolitical movements of the 18th and 19th centuries.
People
Jestin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jestin 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
Jestin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jestin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,167 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jestin 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 293,706 US residents.
Is Jestin a common name?
We classify Jestin as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jestin most popular?
The single biggest year for Jestin was 2001, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jestin is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jestin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,062 people with the name Jestin, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,892 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 Jestin 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 Jestin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jestin leans strongly male. 1,030 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 27 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Jestin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jestin is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Jestin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jestin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.3% (513 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 Jestin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jestin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jestin 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 Jestin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jestin 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 Jestin 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 Jestin?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Jestin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.