Adal
Pure, virtuous, upright; a name from Arabic origins.
Name Census estimates that about 392 living Americans carry the first name Adal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Adal today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adal births was 2006 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adal. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
392
~ 1 in 874,373 Americans
Peak year
2006
38 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,175
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Adal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adal from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 239 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adal by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Adal
The name Adal has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word 'adl,' which means justice, fairness, or integrity. The name was prevalent among the Arabic-speaking populations of the Middle East and North Africa during the early Islamic era.
Adal is believed to have been used as a personal name in ancient times, although its earliest recorded instances are found in medieval Arabic literature and historical accounts. One notable example is Adal ibn al-Faraj, a renowned Arab poet and scholar who lived in the 10th century.
In the 13th century, Adal gained prominence as the name of a medieval Muslim sultanate located in present-day Somalia and Djibouti. The Adal Sultanate played a significant role in the region's history, engaging in conflicts with the neighboring Christian kingdom of Ethiopia.
One of the most famous historical figures bearing the name Adal was Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, also known as Ahmad Gran (1506-1543). He was the Sultan of Adal and led a powerful military campaign against the Ethiopian Empire, inflicting a major defeat on the Christian forces at the Battle of Shimbra Kure in 1529.
Another notable figure with the name Adal was Adal Ramírez (1837-1888), a Mexican general and politician who served as the Governor of Chihuahua during the late 19th century. He played a crucial role in the Mexican Revolution and the struggle for independence from Spanish colonial rule.
In the 20th century, Adal Malki (1917-1988) was a renowned Egyptian actor and comedian. He was widely celebrated for his performances in numerous films and stage productions, and is considered one of the pioneers of Egyptian comedy.
Adal Rifaat (1927-2016) was a prominent Lebanese writer and academic. He was a prolific author who published numerous novels, short stories, and literary works, and was widely recognized for his contributions to Arabic literature.
Adal Mallik (born 1947) is a Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer. He has been honored with several literary awards and is considered one of the most influential figures in contemporary Bengali literature.
People
Adal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adal going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 874,373 US residents.
Is Adal a common name?
We classify Adal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 397 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adal most popular?
The single biggest year for Adal was 2006, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adal is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Adal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adal in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.