Jaleah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "majestic" or "high-ranking beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 3,618 living Americans carry the first name Jaleah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jaleah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaleah births was 2012 (238 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaleah. 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.
Key insights
- • Jaleah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.6K
~ 1 in 94,736 Americans
Peak year
2012
238 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,217
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Jaleah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaleah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,881 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaleah 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 Jaleah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaleahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Jaleah, while Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 107 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaleah
The name Jaleah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, with roots tracing back to the Middle East. It is a relatively modern name, emerging in the latter half of the 20th century.
Jaleah is believed to be a combination of two Arabic words: "jalil" meaning "majestic" or "glorious," and "aliyah" meaning "exalted" or "elevated." The name's overall meaning is often interpreted as "majestic and exalted" or "glorious and elevated."
While the name itself is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components can be traced back to Arabic words and names used in the region for centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name Jaleah date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, though its usage was initially quite rare.
Over time, the name gained popularity, particularly in the United States and parts of Europe, as parents sought unique and meaningful names with cultural significance. One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Jaleah was Jaleah Duckworth, an American singer and songwriter born in 1978.
Other individuals who have borne the name Jaleah include:
1. Jaleah Arnetta (born 1985), an American professional basketball player.
2. Jaleah Phillips (born 1988), an American track and field athlete specializing in the triple jump.
3. Jaleah Rodriguez (born 1995), an American gymnast and member of the United States national gymnastics team.
4. Jaleah Purnell (born 1997), an American singer and songwriter known for her participation in the reality TV show "The X Factor" in 2013.
5. Jaleah Jones (born 2002), an American actress known for her role in the TV series "Family Reunion."
While the name Jaleah is still relatively uncommon globally, it has gained popularity in certain regions and communities, particularly among those with Arabic or Middle Eastern heritage or those seeking unique and culturally significant names for their children.
People
Jaleah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaleah 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
Jaleah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaleah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,618 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaleah 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 94,736 US residents.
Is Jaleah a common name?
We classify Jaleah as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,656 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaleah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaleah was 2012, when 238 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaleah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jaleah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jaleah 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.