Jonae
A feminine variant of the Hebrew name Jonah meaning "dove".
Name Census estimates that about 1,109 living Americans carry the first name Jonae. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jonae today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jonae births was 1999 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jonae. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 309,066 Americans
Peak year
1999
75 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,187
Tracked since 1965
Census
Jonae in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 933 people with the first name Jonae, which placed it at #13,076 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
#13,076
National first-name rank
People counted
933
933 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jonae
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonae is Black at 77.9%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Jonae 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 Jonae at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.9% · 727
- White9.8% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 61
- Two or more races4.0% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 8
Popularity
Jonae: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jonae from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 408 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
Jonae 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 Jonae during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jonaes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Jonae, while Ohio, Illinois, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jonae
The name Jonae is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Jonah, which means "dove" in ancient Hebrew. The name has its origins in the biblical figure of Jonah, a prophet from the Old Testament who was famously swallowed by a large fish or whale after refusing to follow God's command.
The story of Jonah is recounted in the Book of Jonah, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The name Jonah appears numerous times throughout this text, which is believed to have been written around the 5th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jonae can be found in the Latin Vulgate Bible, a 4th-century translation of the Hebrew Bible into Latin. In this version, the prophet's name is rendered as "Ionas," which is closer to the spelling "Jonae."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Jonae. One example is Jonae Udall (c. 1560-1592), an English clergyman and author who wrote a commentary on the Book of Jonah.
Another individual with this name was Jonae Philogène (1860-1936), a Haitian political figure who served as the President of Haiti from 1890 to 1891.
In the realm of literature, Jonae Pakalns (1905-1976) was a Latvian poet and translator known for his work in promoting Latvian culture.
The name Jonae also has historical ties to the Netherlands, where one can find references to Jonae van den Vondel (1587-1679), a renowned Dutch writer and playwright during the Dutch Golden Age.
Lastly, Jonae Viou (1628-1678) was a French engraver and printmaker active in the 17th century, known for his intricate etchings and engravings.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and eras in which the name Jonae has been used, reflecting its biblical roots and enduring presence throughout various cultures and time periods.
People
Jonae + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jonae 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
Jonae: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jonae?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jonae 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 309,066 US residents.
Is Jonae a common name?
We classify Jonae as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jonae most popular?
The single biggest year for Jonae was 1999, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jonae 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 Jonae in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 933 people with the name Jonae, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,076 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 Jonae 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 Jonae?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jonae leans strongly female. 916 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 15 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Jonae?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jonae is Black at 77.9%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Jonae most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jonae in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.9% (727 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 Jonae in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jonae a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jonae 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 Jonae still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jonae 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 Jonae 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 Jonae?
Find out how many people share the name Jonae on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.