Jensen
Masculine · “son of Jens”
Jensen is given to both — 17,347 boys and 2,921 girls since 1880. See Jensen as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Jensen began as one of the most common surnames in Denmark — the son of Jens, and Jens is simply the short Danish way of saying John. Danish families carried it across the Atlantic in the nineteenth century, and English speakers eventually turned the family name around and used it up front. Two syllables, no silent letters, and a well-worn path behind it.
How old is the name Jensen?
Jensen first appears in US birth records in 1927 — 98 years ago. The typical Jensen is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 17,000 people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jensen most popular?
Jensen peaked in 2025, reaching #282 nationally. Today it ranks #282, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Jensen appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Yohanan to Jensen
The story of Jensen
Jensen is Danish, and it is a patronymic: son of Jens. Jens itself is the clipped Danish form of Johannes, which came through Greek Iōannēs from the Hebrew name Yoḥanan, "God is gracious" — making Jensen a cousin of the English Johnson. Fixed as a hereditary surname in Denmark, it became one of the country's most widespread family names, and Danish emigrants brought it to the United States in the nineteenth century, settling heavily in the Midwest and the Plains. Its life as a first name is a much later, English-speaking development, which is why the Jensens on American records today are overwhelmingly young.
Meaning
son of Jens — that is, son of John, from Hebrew for "God is gracious"
Jens is the Danish contraction of Johannes; the -sen ending is the Scandinavian patronymic "son of".
How the name formed
- Yohanan
- Iohannes / Johannes
- Jens
- Jensen
Related forms: Jensen · Jensen · Jenson · Jansen · Jansson · Johnson
Pronouncing Jensen
JEN-sən
In Danish the J is said like a Y: YEN-sen. English speakers use the J sound, and both are correct in their own settings.
Nicknames for Jensen
High
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
- 1927
- Most boys named
- 20251,207 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #282reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +14.0%1,207 in 2025, from 1,059
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
- Jansen in Dutch — related form
- Jansson in Swedish — related form
- Johnson in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Florida.
Jensens among us
people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,415 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 Jarrett 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: Jarrett climbed just as high around 1998, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jarrett'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.
High 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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the standard Danish way, so it matches millions of existing records and is easy to look up or confirm.
- Two syllables, familiar sounds, no silent letters — most English speakers read it correctly on first sight.
- Belongs to the enormous John family of names, giving it a documented line stretching back to Hebrew Yoḥanan.
- Comes with Jens ready-made as a short form, itself a full given name across Scandinavia and northern Germany.
- Recognized as a surname across Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, so it travels without needing explanation.
- Jenson is a competing spelling and sounds identical, so expect to spell it out fairly often. Jensen is the older and more standard form, which helps.
- The Jen- opening overlaps with Jennifer and Jenna, so the casual short form Jen reads female to many American ears. Jens avoids that entirely.
- As a first name this is a recent development, so there is no established older generation of Jensens in the US to lend it a settled, familiar feel yet.
- In Denmark it is read first and foremost as a last name; Danish relatives or friends may need a moment to hear it as a given name.
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What they receive
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Jensen
Masculine · #282 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 17,000 people named Jensen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jensen in 2025?
- Jensen ranks #282 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,207 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jensen?
- About 1 in every 1,415 US boys born in 2025 was named Jensen — 1,207 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.
Atticus#281 · Tobias#283 · Derek#284 · Maximiliano#280 · Benson#279 · Colt#285 · Kash#286 · Shiloh#278
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jensen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jensen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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