Jerlene
Feminine
Jerlene is an American name made the way thousands were in its decades: a syllable from a relative's name at the front, and an ending that was in the air and belonged to nobody. It is a construction rather than an inheritance, and the construction is the interesting part.
How old is the name Jerlene?
Jerlene first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Jerlene alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 500 people named Jerlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jerlene most popular?
Jerlene peaked in 1937, reaching #1219 nationally. See the whole 1937 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Jerlene
The ending had a busy century. Helene, Darlene, Charlene, Marlene and Arlene came into American use within a few decades of each other, close enough together that the tail they shared stopped being part of any of them and became a piece parents could use on its own. Once that happens the ending outlives its sources: it went on being attached to new fronts long after the names it came from had gone quiet. What it does is consistent and worth naming — it turns a short, often masculine syllable into something unmistakably a woman's name, without borrowing anything from another language. That is a small piece of homegrown grammar, and this name is a clean example of it working exactly as intended.
Meaningnot established
Not established
There is no word behind it. The front is almost always a relative — a Jerry, a Jerome, a Jerald, sometimes a Jeraldine — and the ending is a suffix that had come loose from other names and could be attached to anything. That makes the etymology a family matter rather than a linguistic one, which is a real answer, just not the kind a dictionary holds.
Pronouncing Jerlene
jur-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is what the ending does to every name it is attached to.
Nicknames for Jerlene
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 194738 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1219reached in 1937
- Change vs 1982
- +20.0%6 in 1988, from 5
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.
Jerlenes among us
people named Jerlene are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jerlene sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is read correctly on sight, with no sound in it that troubles anyone.
- The back stress gives it a strong finish and keeps it from being clipped away.
- It carries a family connection in its first syllable, which is a real inheritance even without a meaning.
- Jerline, Jurlene and Gerlene are all possible spellings of the same sound.
- The ending dates the name to a particular stretch of the last century.
- There is no meaning to hand on, and the honest story is about a relative rather than a word.
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Jerlene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jerlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Jerlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jerlene in 2025?
- Jerlene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jerlene with classmates?
- Jerlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jerlene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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