Jala
Of Sanskrit origin, a name meaning "water, a stream, or a river".
Name Census estimates that about 2,009 living Americans carry the first name Jala. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jala today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jala births was 2001 (172 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jala. 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 170,609 Americans
Peak year
2001
172 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,492
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Jala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jala 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 1,084 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
Jala 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 Jala during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jalas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jala, while West Virginia, District of Columbia, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jala
The name Jala finds its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been a prominent language of the Indian subcontinent for over three millennia. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "jala," which translates to "water" or "stream." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have held a symbolic association with the life-giving and purifying properties of water in ancient Indian culture.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Jala can be found in the Rigveda, a sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1000 BCE. In this ancient text, the name is mentioned in reference to a river or stream, further reinforcing its connection to water.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jala. One of the most prominent was Jala ad-Din Muhammad Akbar, also known as Akbar the Great (1542-1605), the third Mughal emperor who ruled the Indian subcontinent from 1556 to 1605. His reign is renowned for its religious tolerance, administrative reforms, and cultural achievements.
Another historical figure with the name Jala was Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), a renowned Persian poet, scholar, and Sufi mystic. His poetic works, such as the Masnavi, have had a profound impact on Persian literature and continue to be celebrated for their spiritual depth and wisdom.
In the realm of Indian classical music, Jala Narayanan (1927-2018) was a distinguished veena player and composer who contributed significantly to the Carnatic music tradition. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 1976.
Jala Devi (1892-1978), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer, was another notable figure who bore this name. She played an active role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly to uplift the status of women and promote education in the country.
Jala Krishnasamy (1904-1975) was a renowned Indian lawyer and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (now Tamil Nadu) from 1963 to 1967. He was a prominent figure in the Dravidian movement and worked towards promoting the rights and interests of the Tamil-speaking population.
People
Jala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jala 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
Jala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,009 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jala 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 170,609 US residents.
Is Jala a common name?
We classify Jala as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,049 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jala most popular?
The single biggest year for Jala was 2001, when 172 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jala is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jala a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jala 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.