Junior
Denoting someone as the son of another having the same first name.
Name Census estimates that about 18,628 living Americans carry the first name Junior. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Junior today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Junior births was 1927 (1,607 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Junior. 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 Junior with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Junior is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 195 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
19K
~ 1 in 18,400 Americans
Peak year
1927
1,607 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#682
Tracked since 1882
Census
Junior in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,602 people with the first name Junior, which placed it at #1,348 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
#1,348
National first-name rank
People counted
27K
26,602 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Junior
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Junior is Hispanic at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and White (20.1%). 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 Junior 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 Junior at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino49.8% · 13,254
- Black or African American23.0% · 6,127
- White20.1% · 5,349
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 1,164
- Two or more races1.7% · 458
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 250
Gender
Gender distribution for Junior
Out of the 42,825 babies given the name Junior since 1880, 99.5% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Junior as a male name
- Ranked #682 in 2024
- 397 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1926 (1,590 births)
Junior as a female name
- Ranked #14,439 in 1995
- 5 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1927 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Junior leans strongly male. 26,329 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 269 female bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Junior: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Junior from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 13,048 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Junior 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 Junior during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Juniors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, West Virginia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Junior, while North Dakota, District of Columbia, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 822 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Junior
The name Junior is derived from the Latin word "iunior," which means "younger" or "lesser." It was initially used as an epithet or suffix to distinguish between people of the same name, typically father and son. The earliest recorded use of the name Junior dates back to ancient Rome, where it was common practice to add "iunior" to a person's name to indicate their youth or subordinate status.
In the Middle Ages, the name Junior became more prevalent in European societies, particularly among nobility and aristocratic families. It was often used to differentiate between members of the same family who shared the same given name. For instance, if a father and son both had the name John, the son would be referred to as John Junior to avoid confusion.
During the Renaissance, the use of Junior as a given name gained popularity, especially among wealthy and influential families. One of the earliest recorded examples of Junior as a first name is Juan Ponce de León Junior, born in 1520, the son of the famous Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Junior. One prominent example is Junior Seau, an American professional football player who played for the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins. He was born in 1969 and tragically passed away in 2012.
Another famous Junior is Junior Walker, an American singer, and saxophonist who was a major figure in the American soul and R&B scene. He was born in 1931 and passed away in 1995.
In the literary world, Junior Delgado is a notable Puerto Rican writer and poet. He was born in 1948 and is known for his works exploring themes of identity and cultural heritage.
Junior Sample, a former professional baseball player for the Texas Rangers, was born in 1958 and played in the Major League Baseball from 1983 to 1990.
Lastly, Junior Brown, an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist, was born in 1952 and is renowned for his unique blend of country, blues, and rock music styles.
While the name Junior originated as a way to distinguish between individuals with the same name, it has evolved over time to become a standalone given name, transcending its initial purpose as a suffix or epithet.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Junior
People
Junior + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Junior 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
Junior: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Junior?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18,628 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Junior 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 18,400 US residents.
Is Junior a common name?
We classify Junior as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42,825 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Junior most popular?
The single biggest year for Junior was 1927, when 1,607 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Junior is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Junior in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,602 people with the name Junior, or 8.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,348 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 Junior 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 Junior?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Junior leans strongly male. 26,329 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 269 female bearers (1.0%). 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 Junior?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Junior is Hispanic at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and White (20.1%). 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 Junior most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Junior in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (13,254 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 Junior in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Junior a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Junior 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 Junior still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Junior 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 Junior 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 Junior?
Want to know how many people have the name Junior? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.