Jimi
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Meaning
supplanter (pet form of James); famously borne by Jimi Hendrix
The story
Jimi is James set loose: the old name traced through Hebrew Jacob and glossed as supplanter, softened to Jimmy on a million playgrounds, then respelled by one man. James Marshall Hendrix adopted the spelling Jimi in 1966, just as a move to London launched four astonishing years in which he rewrote what an electric guitar could do, from Purple Haze to the Star-Spangled Banner he bent into new shapes at Woodstock. He died in 1970 at twenty-seven, and those four letters still mean feedback, velvet, and fire to anyone who has heard him play. As a birth-certificate name, Jimi has always been an uncommon choice in American records, surfacing faintly in the rock era and flickering again in the most recent decade, which keeps it feeling less like a fashion and more like a deliberate tribute.
How popular is Jimi around the world?
In the United States, 75 babies were named Jimi between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Jimi in 2017.
Jimi is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, England and Wales, Austria, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 290,000
In the United States, 75 babies were named Jimi between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jimi has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Jimi in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
England and Wales
1 in 73,000
In England and Wales, 8 boys named Jimi were born in 2025, ranked 2,664th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Jimi was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 189 people in Brazil were named Jimi, ranked 26,468th, with a median age of 32.
Among people named Jimi living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 1.8M
In Spain, 25 residents are named Jimi, ranked 25,466th among men, with a mean age of 22.8 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Canada
last on record 2011
Jimi is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Chile
last on record 2014
Jimi is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 2010
Jimi is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Jimi
Most people given the name Jimi in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Jimi you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Jimi deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jimi truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jimi fits with your family’s names and surname.
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