Cemal
A masculine Turkish name meaning "handsome".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Cemal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cemal today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cemal births was 1978 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cemal. 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 Cemal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cemal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1978
7 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1978 SSA rank
#4,624
Tracked since 1978
Census
Cemal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Cemal, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cemal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cemal is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Cemal 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 Cemal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 188
- Black or African American14.4% · 33
- Two or more races3.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Popularity
Cemal: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cemal 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 Cemal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cemal
The name Cemal has its origins in the Turkish language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "jamal," which means "beauty" or "perfection." The name gained popularity during the Ottoman Empire period, spanning from the 13th to the 20th century.
Cemal is a masculine name that has been used for centuries in various regions of the Middle East, particularly in Turkey, Iran, and parts of the Arab world. The earliest recorded use of the name can be traced back to the 7th century, when it was mentioned in Islamic literature and historical texts.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Cemal was Cemal Pasha (1872-1922), an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas who ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He played a significant role in the Armenian Genocide and was eventually assassinated in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Another prominent individual with the name Cemal was Cemal Gürsel (1895-1966), a Turkish army officer who served as the fourth President of Turkey from 1960 to 1966. He played a crucial role in the military coup that overthrew the government of Adnan Menderes in 1960.
In the literary world, Cemal Süreya (1931-1990) was a renowned Turkish poet and author. His works were celebrated for their unique style and exploration of themes such as love, loneliness, and the human condition.
Cemal Nuri (1893-1938) was a Turkish intellectual, writer, and politician who played a significant role in the early years of the Republic of Turkey. He was a prominent figure in the Turkish national movement and served as a member of the Grand National Assembly.
Cemal Bey (1925-2009), whose full name was Cemal Reşit Rey, was a prominent Turkish musician and composer. He was known for his contributions to Turkish classical music and his efforts in preserving and promoting traditional Turkish music.
While the name Cemal has its roots in the Middle East and Turkey, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages over time. However, the historical references and notable individuals mentioned above highlight the rich heritage and significance of this name within the Turkish and Islamic cultural contexts.
People
Cemal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cemal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cemal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cemal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cemal 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Cemal a common name?
We classify Cemal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cemal most popular?
The single biggest year for Cemal was 1978, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cemal is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cemal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Cemal, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Cemal 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 Cemal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cemal appears almost entirely male. Of the 226 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Cemal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cemal is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Cemal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cemal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (188 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 Cemal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cemal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cemal 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 Cemal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cemal 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 Cemal 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 have the name Cemal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.