Genie
Feminine · “well born”
Genie is given to both — 2,737 girls and 173 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
The genie in the lamp is a translator's accident. When a French scholar first turned the Thousand and One Nights into a European language, he needed a word for jinnī and reached for génie — a Latin word for a guardian spirit that happened to sound almost identical. Two unrelated words merged permanently, and English inherited the merger. The name Genie is older than any of that and has nothing to do with it.
How old is the name Genie?
Genie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Genie alive today was born around 1957, making them about 68 years old. About 1,800 people named Genie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Genie most popular?
Genie peaked in 1883, reaching #536 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,672 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From eugenes to Genie
The story of Genie
Antoine Galland's French translation of the Arabian Nights was one of the publishing events of the early eighteenth century, and his choice of génie for jinnī fixed a false friend in every European language. Meanwhile Genie was doing perfectly ordinary work as a short form: Eugenie, Eugenia, Jean and Genevieve all produce it, and American records carry it from the very first year of statistics. The two meanings have sat side by side ever since, and anyone with the name has spent a lifetime being asked about lamps.
Meaningscholars disagree
well born, if it is read through Eugenie
As a short form of Eugenie, the line runs to the Greek eugenes, well born. As a short form of Jean or Jane, it goes to the Hebrew Yohanan, God is gracious. The English word genie is a third thing entirely, and its collision with the name is a coincidence of spelling that happened in the eighteenth century.
How the name formed
- eugenes
- Eugenie
- Genie
Related forms: Eugénie · Eugenia
Pronouncing Genie
JEE-nee
Two syllables, stress on the first. It is said exactly like the English word for the spirit in the lamp, and identically to Jeannie, which is the commoner spelling of the same sound.
Nicknames for Genie
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 198269 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #536reached in 1883
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%6 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Genie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eugénie in French — related form
- Eugenia in Greek — related form
Genies among us
people named Genie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Genie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Genie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Genie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Genie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters, two syllables, and completely readable on sight.
- It shortens several longer names, so it fits a family with any of them behind it.
- It is warm and informal without being childish.
- It is recorded for boys as well as girls, though nearly all are girls.
- The lamp joke is unavoidable and has been made to everyone with this name.
- Jeannie and Jeanie are both commoner spellings of the sound and will be written instead.
- It belongs to an older American generation and carries that flavor.
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What they receive
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Genie
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Genies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Genie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Genie in 2025?
- Genie ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Genie?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Genie — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Genie with classmates?
- Genie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Genie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brette#13208 · Deyanira#13208 · Maggy#13208 · Ragan#13208 · Rashida#13208 · Jonae#13208 · Lizet#13208 · Ivett#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Genie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Genie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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