Jaela
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "the unseen beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 2,665 living Americans carry the first name Jaela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jaela today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaela births was 2007 (182 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaela. 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 Jaela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 128,613 Americans
Peak year
2007
182 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,061
Tracked since 1979
Census
Jaela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,075 people with the first name Jaela, which placed it at #7,375 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
#7,375
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,075 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaela is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (18.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Jaela 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 Jaela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.3% · 1,043
- White18.7% · 389
- Hispanic or Latino15.0% · 311
- Two or more races13.3% · 275
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 17
Popularity
Jaela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaela from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,333 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
Jaela 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 Jaela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Jaela, while South Carolina, Connecticut, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 54 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaela
The name Jaela has its roots in Hebrew and Arabic cultures, with its earliest known origins dating back to the 6th century. In Hebrew, the name is derived from the word "ya'el," meaning "ibex" or "mountain goat," symbolizing agility, grace, and resilience.
The Arabic variation, "Jala," can be traced back to the Arabic word "jalal," which translates to "glory" or "majesty." This linguistic connection suggests that the name Jaela could represent a harmonious blend of strength and elegance.
Historical records indicate that the name Jaela appeared in several ancient texts, including the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. In the Book of Judges, Jael (a variant spelling) was a heroic figure who played a pivotal role in the Israelites' victory over the Canaanite army, earning her a place in biblical lore.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jaela or its variants. One of the earliest recorded examples is Jala ad-Din Hasan (1210-1244), a renowned Persian poet and mystic who contributed significantly to the development of Sufi literature.
In the 15th century, Jala ad-Din Muhammad (1415-1490), known as the Maker of Swords, was a celebrated Ottoman Turkish metalworker and swordsmith, renowned for his exceptional craftsmanship and innovative techniques.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Jael Henriette Schanner (1830-1891) was a Swedish-American artist and painter who gained recognition for her landscapes and portraits, capturing the essence of her adopted country's natural beauty.
In the realm of literature, Jael Noor (1865-1944) was a pioneering Egyptian feminist and author who advocated for women's rights and education through her writings and activism.
More recently, Jael Richardson (born 1980) is a Canadian author, broadcaster, and literary activist who has made significant contributions to promoting diversity and inclusivity in the literary world through her work as the founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD).
These historical figures, spanning different cultures, time periods, and disciplines, have carried the name Jaela or its variants, each leaving an indelible mark on their respective fields and shaping the rich tapestry of the name's legacy.
People
Jaela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jaela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,665 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaela 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 128,613 US residents.
Is Jaela a common name?
We classify Jaela as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,704 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaela most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaela was 2007, when 182 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaela is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jaela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,075 people with the name Jaela, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,375 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 Jaela 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 Jaela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaela appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,076 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jaela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaela is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (18.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Jaela most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jaela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (1,043 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 Jaela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jaela 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 Jaela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaela 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 Jaela 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 Americans are named Jaela?
See how many Americans are named Jaela on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.