Ghazal
An Arabic name meaning "poem of love and separation".
Name Census estimates that about 304 living Americans carry the first name Ghazal. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ghazal today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ghazal births was 2024 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ghazal. 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
304
~ 1 in 1,127,481 Americans
Peak year
2024
34 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,218
Tracked since 1988
Popularity
Ghazal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ghazal from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 132 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ghazal 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 Ghazal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ghazals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ghazal, while Illinois, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ghazal
The name Ghazal has its origins in Persian and Arabic languages. It is derived from the Arabic word "ghazal," which means a poetic form consisting of couplets that express romantic or mystical love. The name dates back to the 7th century AD, when this poetic form flourished in the Arab world and later spread to other regions of the Middle East and South Asia.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Ghazal can be traced back to the medieval Islamic era. It was a popular name among poets and scholars who were admirers of this literary form. One of the earliest known historical figures with this name was Ghazal al-Arabi, an 8th-century Arab poet who composed several ghazals.
In the 12th century, the name gained prominence with the Persian poet Ghazal al-Din Rumi, also known as Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi. He was a renowned Sufi mystic and poet who wrote extensively in the ghazal form, exploring themes of divine love and spiritual enlightenment. His poetry has been widely celebrated and continues to be revered across the world.
Another notable figure with the name Ghazal was Ghazal Kashani, a 14th-century Persian poet and calligrapher. He was renowned for his mastery of the ghazal form and his exquisite calligraphic works, which are considered artistic treasures.
In the Indian subcontinent, the name Ghazal has been associated with the Urdu poetic tradition. One of the most celebrated Urdu poets, Mirza Ghalib, who lived in the 19th century, was a master of the ghazal form. His ghazals are widely studied and recited, and he is considered a literary giant in the world of Urdu poetry.
In more recent times, the name Ghazal has been carried by several notable figures, including Ghazal Omid, an Iranian singer and songwriter known for her contributions to Persian classical music, and Ghazal Srinivas, an Indian kathak dancer and choreographer who has performed extensively around the world.
The name Ghazal, with its rich literary and cultural heritage, continues to be associated with the poetic arts, particularly in the regions where the ghazal form has been cherished and celebrated for centuries.
People
Ghazal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ghazal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ghazal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ghazal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 304 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ghazal 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 1,127,481 US residents.
Is Ghazal a common name?
We classify Ghazal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 307 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ghazal most popular?
The single biggest year for Ghazal was 2024, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ghazal is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ghazal a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ghazal 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.
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.