Juniper
A feminine name derived from the juniper shrub or tree.
Name Census estimates that about 19,310 living Americans carry the first name Juniper. It sits at #111 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Juniper today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Juniper births was 2022 (2,535 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Juniper. 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 Juniper with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Juniper is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 233 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Juniper is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
19K
~ 1 in 17,750 Americans
Peak year
2022
2,535 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#111
Tracked since 1969
Census
Juniper in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,200 people with the first name Juniper, which placed it at #2,819 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
#2,819
National first-name rank
People counted
8.2K
8,200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Juniper
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Juniper is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Juniper 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 Juniper at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.0% · 6,397
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 820
- Two or more races8.6% · 702
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 157
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 69
- Black or African American0.7% · 55
Gender
Gender distribution for Juniper
Juniper leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 233 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Juniper as a male name
- Ranked #3,180 in 2024
- 38 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (38 births)
Juniper as a female name
- Ranked #111 in 2024
- 2,441 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (2,499 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Juniper leans strongly female. 8,081 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 119 male bearers (1.5%).
Popularity
Juniper: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Juniper from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 11,160 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Juniper 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 Juniper during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Junipers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Washington recorded the most babies named Juniper, while Delaware, Rhode Island, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 357 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Juniper
The name Juniper has its origins in the Latin word "juniperus", which refers to the juniper tree or shrub. This evergreen plant belongs to the cypress family and is native to the Mediterranean region, Europe, and parts of Asia. The name likely emerged as a reference to the juniper plant in the ancient Roman era or earlier.
During the Middle Ages, the name Juniper was occasionally used as a given name, particularly in parts of Europe where the juniper plant was prevalent. It was sometimes bestowed upon children born near or around juniper trees or bushes, reflecting the natural surroundings and environment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Juniper can be found in the 13th century, referring to Juniper (or Junipero) Serra, a Spanish Franciscan friar born in 1713. He played a significant role in the Spanish colonization of California and established several missions throughout the region.
In the 16th century, Juniper Royce, an English botanist and herbalist born in 1542, gained recognition for her work in documenting and studying the medicinal properties of various plants, including the juniper berry.
Another notable figure was Juniper Bartlett, a British explorer and cartographer born in 1671. He is credited with mapping unexplored territories in North America and contributing to the expansion of the British Empire.
In the 18th century, Juniper Willoughby, a Scottish artist born in 1723, became renowned for her intricate landscape paintings that often featured juniper trees as a prominent element.
The name Juniper also has associations with literature, as evidenced by Juniper Harrington, an American writer and poet born in 1876. Her works frequently drew inspiration from nature and the symbolism of plants, including the juniper.
While the name Juniper has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has gained some popularity in recent times as a gender-neutral name, reflecting a growing appreciation for nature-inspired names and the unique botanical associations of the juniper plant.
People
Juniper + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Juniper 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
Juniper: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Juniper?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,310 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Juniper 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 17,750 US residents.
Is Juniper a common name?
We classify Juniper as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 19,452 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Juniper most popular?
The single biggest year for Juniper was 2022, when 2,535 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Juniper is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Juniper in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,200 people with the name Juniper, or 2.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,819 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 Juniper 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 Juniper?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Juniper leans strongly female. 8,081 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 119 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Juniper?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Juniper is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Two or More Races (8.6%). 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 Juniper most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Juniper in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (6,397 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 Juniper in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Juniper a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Juniper 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 Juniper still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Juniper 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 Juniper 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 Juniper?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Juniper at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.