Jovana
A feminine given name of Slavic origin meaning "young" or "youthful".
Name Census estimates that about 1,981 living Americans carry the first name Jovana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jovana today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jovana births was 2001 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jovana. 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 Jovana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,021 Americans
Peak year
2001
185 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,249
Tracked since 1975
Census
Jovana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,416 people with the first name Jovana, which placed it at #6,592 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
#6,592
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,416 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jovana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jovana is Hispanic at 61.3%. The next largest groups are White (29.2%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Jovana 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 Jovana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino61.3% · 1,481
- White29.2% · 706
- Black or African American6.8% · 164
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 30
- Two or more races1.2% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Popularity
Jovana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jovana 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 720 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
Jovana 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 Jovana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jovanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jovana, while North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 105 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jovana
The given name Jovana has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian cultures. The name is derived from the Latin name Ioviāna, which in turn comes from the Roman god Jupiter, also known as Jove.
The name Jovana is believed to have first appeared in the Balkans region during the Middle Ages, around the 11th to 15th centuries. It was a popular name among Slavic populations during this period, particularly in regions that were influenced by the Roman Empire and later adopted Christianity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jovana can be found in the Serbian epic poetry cycle known as the "Kosovo Cycle," which dates back to the late 14th century. The cycle features a character named Jovana, who is the wife of the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanović.
In the 16th century, a famous Serbian princess named Jovana Nenadović lived during the Ottoman rule in Serbia. She was known for her courage and leadership in defending her people against the Ottoman forces.
During the 17th century, a notable figure named Jovana Milutinović was a Serbian poetess and writer who made significant contributions to the literary culture of her time.
In the 19th century, Jovana Simić was a Serbian educator and feminist who advocated for women's rights and education. She established one of the first schools for girls in Serbia.
Another historical figure with the name Jovana was Jovana Banjac, a Serbian painter and artist who lived in the early 20th century and was known for her portraits and landscapes.
While the name Jovana has its roots in the Slavic cultures, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with significant Slavic populations or influence.
People
Jovana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jovana 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
Jovana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jovana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,981 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jovana 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 173,021 US residents.
Is Jovana a common name?
We classify Jovana as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jovana most popular?
The single biggest year for Jovana was 2001, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jovana is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jovana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,416 people with the name Jovana, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,592 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 Jovana 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 Jovana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jovana appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,415 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Jovana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jovana is Hispanic at 61.3%. The next largest groups are White (29.2%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Jovana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jovana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (1,481 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 Jovana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jovana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jovana 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 Jovana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jovana 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 Jovana 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 Jovana as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Jovana, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.