Ermal
A masculine Albanian name meaning "dignified and honorable".
Name Census estimates that about 53 living Americans carry the first name Ermal. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Ermal today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ermal births was 1916 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ermal. 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 Ermal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ermal was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • The typical person named Ermal is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ermals were born before 1969.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ermal. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
53
~ 1 in 6,467,063 Americans
Peak year
1916
34 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2008 SSA rank
#3,549
Tracked since 1899
Census
Ermal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 379 people with the first name Ermal, which placed it at #25,119 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
#25,119
National first-name rank
People counted
379
379 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ermal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ermal is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Ermal 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 Ermal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 356
- Black or African American3.2% · 12
- Two or more races1.8% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Ermal
Ermal is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 603 total registrations, 261 (43.3%) were male and 342 (56.7%) were female.
Ermal as a male name
- Ranked #13,139 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1920 (17 births)
Ermal as a female name
- Ranked #3,549 in 1939
- 7 female births in 1939
- Peak: 1916 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ermal leans strongly male. 329 people counted with this name were male (86.8%), compared with 50 female bearers (13.2%).
Popularity
Ermal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ermal from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 210 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ermal 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 Ermal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ermals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri recorded the most babies named Ermal, while Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ermal
The name Ermal is of Albanian origin and has its roots in the word "ermal" meaning "precious" or "beloved" in Albanian. The name can be traced back to the 15th century in regions where Albanian was spoken, primarily in modern-day Albania, Kosovo, and parts of neighboring countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ermal can be found in a historical document from the mid-15th century, where it was mentioned as the name of a local nobleman from the city of Shkodra in northern Albania. The name was likely derived from the Albanian word "ermal" as a way to express the value and affection placed upon a child.
In the 16th century, the name Ermal appeared in several religious texts and manuscripts written in the Albanian language, suggesting its widespread use among the Albanian population during that time period. One notable example is a religious manuscript from the 1560s that included the name Ermal as a reference to a local saint or religious figure.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ermal. One of the earliest recorded figures was Ermal Frashëri, an Albanian writer and intellectual who lived in the late 19th century (1848-1888). He was a prominent figure in the Albanian National Renaissance and played a crucial role in the development of modern Albanian literature.
Another famous bearer of the name was Ermal Krajku, an Albanian painter and artist who lived from 1913 to 1982. He was renowned for his contributions to the development of modern Albanian art and his works are celebrated for their vibrant colors and depictions of rural life in Albania.
In the 20th century, Ermal Mamaqi (1959-2003) was a renowned Albanian writer and journalist. His works often explored themes of identity, societal change, and the challenges faced by the Albanian people during the turbulent times of the 20th century.
Ermal Fejzullahu (born 1963) is a contemporary Albanian writer and poet who has received numerous awards and accolades for his literary works. His poetry is known for its deep exploration of human emotions and experiences, and he is considered one of the most influential poets in modern Albanian literature.
Additionally, Ermal Metaj (born 1981) is an Italian singer-songwriter of Albanian descent who has gained popularity in both Italy and Albania. He has released several successful albums and has represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest.
People
Ermal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ermal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ermal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ermal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ermal 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 6,467,063 US residents.
Is Ermal a common name?
We classify Ermal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 603 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ermal most popular?
The single biggest year for Ermal was 1916, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ermal is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ermal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 379 people with the name Ermal, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,119 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 Ermal 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 Ermal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ermal leans strongly male. 329 people counted with this name were male (86.8%), compared with 50 female bearers (13.2%). 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 Ermal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ermal is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Ermal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ermal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (356 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 Ermal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ermal a female name?
Yes, 56.7% of people registered as Ermal in the SSA data are female. 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 Ermal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ermal 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 Ermal 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 Ermal as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ermal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.