Adeel
An Arabic masculine name meaning "just" or "righteous".
Name Census estimates that about 398 living Americans carry the first name Adeel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Adeel today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adeel births was 2020 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adeel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Adeel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
398
~ 1 in 861,192 Americans
Peak year
2020
20 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,648
Tracked since 1980
Census
Adeel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 988 people with the first name Adeel, which placed it at #12,555 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,555
National first-name rank
People counted
988
988 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adeel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adeel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adeel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adeel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.7% · 896
- White2.8% · 28
- Black or African American2.5% · 25
- Two or more races2.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Adeel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adeel from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Adeel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adeel 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 Adeel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adeels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Adeel
The name Adeel is of Arabic origin and is derived from the word "adl," which means justice or fairness. It is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD, when the Arabic language and culture spread across the Middle East and parts of North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Adeel can be found in ancient Arabic literature and poetry. Some scholars suggest that the name might have been used by early Islamic scholars and thinkers, although there is no definitive evidence to support this claim.
In the 10th century, an Arabic scholar and philosopher named Adeel ibn Yahya al-Basri lived in present-day Iraq. He was known for his contributions to the fields of logic and metaphysics. Another notable figure with the name Adeel was Adeel al-Deen al-Ijji, a 12th-century Islamic philosopher and logician from Iran.
During the medieval period, the name Adeel gained popularity among Muslim communities across the Middle East and Central Asia. It was often given to children in the hope that they would grow up to embody the values of justice and fairness.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Adeel was Adeel Shah, the ruler of the Mughal Empire in India from 1627 to 1628. He was known for his short but eventful reign, during which he faced numerous challenges and upheavals.
In the 19th century, Adeel ibn Ruzaik was a renowned Arab poet and scholar from present-day Saudi Arabia. He was celebrated for his contributions to Arabic literature and his mastery of the Arabic language.
Another notable figure with the name Adeel was Adeel Aurangabadkar, an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived in the early 20th century. He played a significant role in the Indian independence movement and fought against social injustices.
Over time, the name Adeel has spread to various parts of the world, particularly in Muslim communities, and has been adopted by people of different backgrounds and cultures. While its popularity may have fluctuated throughout history, it continues to be a respected and admired name, carrying the connotations of justice, fairness, and righteousness.
People
Adeel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adeel 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
Adeel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adeel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 398 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adeel 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 861,192 US residents.
Is Adeel a common name?
We classify Adeel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adeel most popular?
The single biggest year for Adeel was 2020, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adeel is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adeel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 988 people with the name Adeel, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,555 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adeel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adeel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adeel leans strongly male. 982 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adeel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adeel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adeel most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Adeel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (896 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adeel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adeel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adeel 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.
Is Adeel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adeel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adeel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Adeel?
You can see how many people have the name Adeel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.