Jalal
A masculine Arabic name meaning "glory", "majesty" or "grandeur".
Name Census estimates that about 717 living Americans carry the first name Jalal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jalal today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jalal births was 2003 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jalal. 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
717
~ 1 in 478,040 Americans
Peak year
2003
23 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,298
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Jalal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jalal from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 162 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jalal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jalal 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 Jalal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jalals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jalal
The name Jalal has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, tracing back to the 7th century. The name is derived from the Arabic word "jalal," which means "glory" or "majesty." It is a name that carries a sense of grandeur and reverence.
In the religious context, the name Jalal is closely associated with one of the names of Allah in Islam, "Al-Jalal," which refers to His magnificence and supreme glory. This connection has contributed to the name's widespread use among Muslims throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jalal can be found in the works of the renowned Persian poet and philosopher, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, who lived from 1207 to 1273. Rumi, also known as Mawlana (our master), was a Sufi mystic and is considered one of the greatest poets in the Persian language.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jalal is Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Akbar, the third Mughal emperor of India, who ruled from 1556 to 1605. Akbar was known for his religious tolerance, military conquests, and administrative reforms that contributed to the establishment of the Mughal Empire as a major power in the subcontinent.
In the modern era, Jalal Al-e Ahmad (1923-1969) was an influential Iranian writer, novelist, and social critic who played a significant role in shaping the intellectual discourse of pre-revolutionary Iran. His works, such as "Gharbzadegi" (Westoxification), criticized the blind adoption of Western values and called for a revival of authentic Iranian culture.
Another prominent figure with the name Jalal is Jalal Talabani (1933-2017), who served as the sixth President of Iraq from 2005 to 2014. Talabani was a Kurdish politician and the first non-Arab president of Iraq, known for his efforts to promote Kurdish rights and national reconciliation.
Finally, Jalal Agha Shahi (1919-2003) was a distinguished Pakistani diplomat and writer who served as the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan from 1973 to 1982. He played a crucial role in Pakistan's foreign policy during the Cold War era and authored several books on international relations and diplomacy.
People
Jalal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jalal 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
Jalal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jalal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 717 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jalal 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 478,040 US residents.
Is Jalal a common name?
We classify Jalal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 735 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jalal most popular?
The single biggest year for Jalal was 2003, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jalal is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jalal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jalal 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.
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.