Jensen
Feminine · “son of Jens”
Jensen is given to both — 2,921 girls and 17,347 boys since 1880. See Jensen as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Jensen is son of Jens — the Danish John — so the Hebrew behind it says God is gracious, and it is Denmark's commonest surname.
How old is the name Jensen?
Jensen first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Jensen alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 2,900 people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jensen most popular?
Jensen peaked in 1998, reaching #988 nationally. Today it ranks #2256, 1,268 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Jensen
The story of Jensen
Denmark fixed hereditary surnames by law in 1828 and most families simply froze the patronymic they were using, which is why Jensen, Nielsen and Hansen cover an enormous share of the population. Jensen is the commonest Danish surname. It entered American given-name use for both sexes and is in current use.
Meaning
son of Jens
From the Danish Jensen, 'son of Jens', a Scandinavian form of Johannes, from the Hebrew Yochanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. Danish surnames froze as patronymics in the nineteenth century, which is why so few of them cover so many people. The chain is documented.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Johannes
- Jens
- Jensen
Related forms: Jensen · Jensen · Jenson
Pronouncing Jensen
JEN-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Danish says YEN-sen with a y.
Nicknames for Jensen
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
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 1998204 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #988reached in 1998
- Change vs 2024
- +58.8%81 in 2025, from 51
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.
Jensen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jensen in Danish — same name
- Jensen in Norwegian — same name
- Jenson in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, Oklahoma.
Jensens among us
people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 19,843 born in 2025 was named Jensen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Melony test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jensen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Melony climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Melony's path sketches the road Jensen is walking now.
Jensen 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 Jensen is headed
Jensen should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Jensen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jensen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Danish surnames froze by law in 1828 is a first-rate fact.
- Jen is available as a short form with a large record.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- Danish pronounces the J as a Y.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
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What they receive
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Jensen
Feminine · #2256 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jensens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,900 people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jensen in 2025?
- Jensen ranks #2256 among US girl names in 2025, with 81 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jensen?
- About 1 in every 19,843 US girls born in 2025 was named Jensen — 81 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jensen with classmates?
- Jensen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jensen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Miabella#2256 · Leonor#2256 · Toni#2256 · Alita#2256 · Lillyana#2256 · Daylin#2256 · Linden#2256 · Flor#2256
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jensen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jensen and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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