Juniper
Feminine · Latin roots · “The juniper tree or shrub”
Juniper is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 21,856 girls against 261 boys since 1880.
Juniper is the English name of an evergreen shrub whose berries flavor gin — the drink's name is a clipping of Dutch genever, which runs back to the same Latin root, iuniperus. The Brothers Grimm collected a dark old tale they called "The Juniper Tree," and a friar remembered as Brother Juniper walked with Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century. Three unhurried syllables, opening on the same sound as June.
How old is the name Juniper?
Juniper first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Juniper is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 21,500 people named Juniper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Juniper most popular?
Juniper peaked in 2025, reaching #100 nationally. Today it ranks #100, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Iuniperus (Latin) to Juniper
The story of Juniper
The name is the plant word, used as a given name: Latin iuniperus passed through Old French into English as juniper, and the shrub has been named that in English for many centuries. It reached people before it reached babies — Brother Juniper appears among the early Franciscans, and the Spanish form Junípero was taken as a religious name in his honor. As a given name in American records, Juniper belongs to the botanical wave that also carried Willow, Hazel and Clover, and its use here is recent rather than inherited.
Meaning
The juniper tree or shrub
What the name refers to is not in doubt. Where the Latin word iuniperus itself came from is another matter — that has never been pinned down, and proposals connecting it to iuvenis, "young," remain guesses rather than findings.
How the name formed
- IuniperusLatin
- genevreOld French
- juniperMiddle English
- Juniper
Related forms: Iuniperus · Junípero · Ginepro · Genièvre
Pronouncing Juniper
JOO-nih-per
Stress falls on the first syllable. English speakers read it correctly on sight because it is an ordinary English word; the middle syllable is often reduced to almost nothing, giving JOO-nuh-per.
Nicknames for Juniper
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
- 1969
- Most girls named
- 20252,618 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #100reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +6.8%2,618 in 2025, from 2,451
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.
Juniper in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Iuniperus in Latin — same name
- Junípero in Spanish — related form
- Ginepro in Italian — related form
- Genièvre in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Junipers among us
people named Juniper are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 614 born in 2025 was named Juniper
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 Charlene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Juniper's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Charlene climbed just as high around 1949, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Charlene's path sketches the road Juniper is walking now.
Juniper is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Juniper is headed
Juniper looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Juniper beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Juniper in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled exactly like the English word for the plant, so it is written correctly by most people the first time they hear it.
- Comes with short forms that already stand alone as names — June and Juno — so a child has real options without inventing anything.
- Traceable in English for centuries as a plant name, with documented human bearers behind it, including the Franciscan Brother Juniper.
- Related forms exist across Romance languages: Junípero in Spanish, Ginepro in Italian.
- Rare enough at present that a Juniper is unlikely to share the name with a classmate.
- The gin connection is real and will be mentioned to her eventually, most often by adults who think they are being original.
- This one is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in a nursery now may feel considerably more familiar by the time she reaches high school.
- Botanical names cluster in the present moment, so Juniper will likely read as a name of this era rather than a neutral one.
- Expect June or Juno to do a lot of the daily work, whether or not that is the plan — three syllables tend to get trimmed.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Juniper to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Juniper? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Juniper
Feminine · Latin roots · #100 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Junipers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 21,500 people named Juniper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Juniper in 2025?
- Juniper ranks #100 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,618 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Juniper?
- About 1 in every 614 US girls born in 2025 was named Juniper — 2,618 in all.
- Will my child share the name Juniper with classmates?
- Juniper will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Juniper
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Georgia#99 · Aaliyah#101 · Amara#98 · Margot#102 · Quinn#97 · Allison#103 · Caroline#96 · Hailey#104
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Juniper? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Juniper and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle