Jaclyn
Feminine · “heel-holder”
Jaclyn is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 49,632 girls against 102 boys since 1880.
Jaclyn is Jacqueline with every French letter removed. The parent is the feminine of Jacques, which is James, which is Jacob — and this spelling keeps the sound and discards the etymology's visible trail.
How old is the name Jaclyn?
Jaclyn first appears in US birth records in 1923 — 102 years ago. The typical Jaclyn alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 48,000 people named Jaclyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jaclyn most popular?
Jaclyn peaked in 1988, reaching #114 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 2,664 places below that high. See the whole 1988 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ya'aqov to Jaclyn
The story of Jaclyn
Jacqueline was a name of the French and Burgundian nobility and came into English use in the twentieth century. American families then respelled it heavily — Jaclyn, Jacquelyn, Jackalyn — with the shortest forms arriving last. Jaclyn appears in the registers from the 1960s and peaked in the mid-1970s, when the -lyn ending was at its most fashionable.
Meaning
heel-holder, supplanter
Through Jacqueline and Jacques, from the Latin Iacomus and so from the Hebrew Ya'aqov. Genesis explains it by the birth of twins, the younger gripping the elder's heel. French added -line to Jacques to make the feminine; this spelling compresses that to -lyn.
How the name formed
- Ya'aqov
- Jacques
- Jacqueline
- Jaclyn
Related forms: Jacqueline · Jacquelyn · Jaquelyn
Pronouncing Jaclyn
JAK-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Jacqueline is three; this spelling records the compressed American pronunciation.
Nicknames for Jaclyn
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
- 1923
- Most girls named
- 19882,497 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #114reached in 1988
- Change vs 2023
- −20.8%61 in 2025, from 77
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.
Jaclyn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jacqueline in French — related form
- Jacquelyn in English — spelling variant
- Jaquelyn in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Jaclyns among us
people named Jaclyn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Jaclyn
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Jaclyn
- #2778
- Jaclyn on the 2025 chart
- #783
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Jaclyn went to 61 girls in 2025, but Jacklyn, Jacklynn and Jaclynn are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 177, which makes it the 783rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,995 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 9,081 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,349 for Jaclyn itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rosie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jaclyn's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rosie climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rosie's path sketches the road Jaclyn is walking now.
Jaclyn 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
Where Jaclyn is headed
Jaclyn is easing off slowly — about 26% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Jaclyn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jaclyn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The spelling is fully phonetic, which the French original is not.
- Jacqueline stands behind it as a documented French noble name.
- Jackie is available as a short form with its own record.
- Jacqueline is the standard spelling and this one loses its visible French descent.
- Several respellings are in use.
- It is closely dated to the 1970s in American records.
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What they receive
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Jaclyn
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jaclyns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 48,000 people named Jaclyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Jaclyn?
- Jaclyn is one of 4 recorded spellings. Jacklyn is the more common one — 68 births in 2025 against 61 for Jaclyn.
- How popular is the name Jaclyn in 2025?
- Jaclyn ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jaclyn?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Jaclyn — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jaclyn with classmates?
- Jaclyn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jaclyn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jaclyn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jaclyn and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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