Justine
A feminine name of French origin meaning "just" or "fair".
Name Census estimates that about 33,283 living Americans carry the first name Justine. It is a predominantly female name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Justine today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Justine births was 1988 (1,750 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Justine. 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 Justine with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Compared to the 1990s, recent registration numbers for Justine have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
33K
~ 1 in 10,298 Americans
Peak year
1988
1,750 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2020 SSA rank
#3,527
Tracked since 1881
Census
Justine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 33,399 people with the first name Justine, which placed it at #1,180 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
#1,180
National first-name rank
People counted
33K
33,399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
11.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Justine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Justine is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.0%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Justine 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 Justine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.9% · 21,015
- Hispanic or Latino15.0% · 5,000
- Black or African American8.7% · 2,916
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 2,576
- Two or more races4.4% · 1,474
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 418
Gender
Gender distribution for Justine
Justine leans heavily female at 94.1% of total registrations, but 2,412 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Justine as a male name
- Ranked #13,021 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1988 (159 births)
Justine as a female name
- Ranked #3,527 in 2024
- 44 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1988 (1,591 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Justine leans strongly female. 32,053 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 1,350 male bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Justine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Justine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11,597 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
Justine 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 Justine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Justines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Justine, while Delaware, Vermont, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 656 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Justine
The name Justine is derived from the Latin name Justinus, which means "just" or "fair". The name has its origins in ancient Rome and was initially a surname given to those who were known for their justice and fairness.
Justine first emerged as a feminine given name during the Middle Ages, particularly in France and other parts of Europe where Latin was widely spoken and understood. The name gained popularity among Christians, who associated it with virtues such as righteousness and moral uprightness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Justine can be found in the hagiography of Saint Justine, a 3rd-century martyr who was executed during the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Her story and veneration as a saint helped to popularize the name among the faithful.
In the 16th century, the French philosopher and writer Justine Wynne Rosenberg (1522-1587) was one of the earliest notable figures to bear the name. She is remembered for her influential works on ethics and moral philosophy.
During the 17th century, Justine de Levis (1609-1677), a French noblewoman and influential figure at the court of King Louis XIII, was known for her wit and patronage of the arts.
In the 18th century, Justine Favart (1727-1772), a French actress and playwright, achieved fame for her comedic roles and her popular plays, which satirized the social mores of her time.
The 19th century saw the rise of Justine Fradin (1809-1886), a French educator and advocate for women's education. She founded several schools for girls and worked tirelessly to promote educational opportunities for women.
In the 20th century, Justine Wise Polier (1903-1987), an American judge and civil rights activist, made significant contributions to the field of juvenile justice and fought against racial discrimination in the legal system.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Justine, a name that has endured for centuries and continues to be associated with principles of justice, fairness, and moral integrity.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Justine
People
Justine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Justine 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
Justine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Justine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33,283 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Justine 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 10,298 US residents.
Is Justine a common name?
We classify Justine as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40,580 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Justine most popular?
The single biggest year for Justine was 1988, when 1,750 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Justine is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Justine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 33,399 people with the name Justine, or 11.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,180 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 Justine 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 Justine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Justine leans strongly female. 32,053 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 1,350 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Justine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Justine is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.0%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Justine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Justine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.9% (21,015 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 Justine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Justine a female name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Justine 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 Justine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Justine 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 Justine 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 share the name Justine?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.