Jermaine
Feminine · “brother”
Jermaine is given to boys far more often — 42,027 boys against 967 girls since 1880. See Jermaine as a boy name
Jermaine is a French name wearing an English coat. The sound is French all the way through; the spelling is what English does when it hears that sound and reaches for a letter it already trusts. The result has been a fixture of American naming for three generations and does not read as borrowed at all.
How old is the name Jermaine?
Jermaine first appears in US birth records in 1923 — 102 years ago. The typical Jermaine alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 900 people named Jermaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jermaine most popular?
Jermaine peaked in 1972, reaching #1313 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Latin germanus, a full brother, becomes a personal name to Jermaine
The story of Jermaine
Germain, bishop of Paris in the sixth century, was buried in an abbey outside the city walls that eventually took his name. Saint-Germain-des-Prés is generally reckoned the oldest church in Paris — the tower has stood since the eleventh century and parts of the foundation are older still — and the quarter that grew up around it kept the name into modern life, so that a bishop dead fourteen hundred years is still the address of a Paris neighborhood. That is where the name comes from. What English did to it was change one letter. French writes Germain and says the g softly, the way the middle of measure sounds; English has a letter for a related sound already, and wrote it J. The spelling change is the whole difference between the French name and the American one, and it is why Jermaine looks unrelated to Germaine on the page while sounding almost identical.
Meaning
brother
The Latin word behind the name, germanus, described a full brother — a sibling of the same two parents, as opposed to a half-brother — and it produced a saint's name in France as Germain and Germaine. English took the French name, not the Latin one, which is why the sound is French and the spelling is not. The derivation itself is not in dispute; it simply looks nothing like the name once it has passed through two languages and an American spelling.
How the name formed
- Latin germanus, a full brother, becomes a personal name
- Sixth century: Germain is bishop of Paris
- The abbey named after him becomes the oldest church in the city
- French Germain reaches English-speaking use
- English respells the soft g as J, giving Jermaine
Related forms: Germain · Germaine · Germano · Germán
Pronouncing Jermaine
jer-MAYN
Two syllables with the stress firmly on the second — the first is barely more than a breath. Saying it JER-mayne, with the weight at the front, marks a speaker out immediately as someone who has only read the name.
Nicknames for Jermaine
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
- 197277 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1313reached in 1972
- Change vs 2002
- 0.0%5 in 2005, 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.
Jermaine in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Germain in French — same name
- Germaine in French — related form
- Germano in Italian — related form
- Germán in Spanish — related form
Jermaines among us
people named Jermaine 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
Jermaine 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
- Established in American use for three generations, so it is familiar without being crowded
- A clear, confident rhythm that carries across a room
- Real French and Latin history behind it, easily explained in a sentence
- The short form Jerm sounds exactly like germ, and children find that quickly whether or not adults use it.
- This spelling is recorded for daughters as well as sons; a girl carrying it will meet the assumption of a boy on every written list.
- The name is stepping back from a peak it reached decades ago, so it reads as belonging to a particular American generation.
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Jermaine
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Jermaines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Jermaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jermaine in 2025?
- Jermaine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Jermaine with classmates?
- Jermaine 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 Jermaine? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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