Jalee
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the Hindi word for "net".
Name Census estimates that about 465 living Americans carry the first name Jalee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jalee today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jalee births was 2005 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jalee. 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
465
~ 1 in 737,106 Americans
Peak year
2005
32 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,650
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Jalee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jalee 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 242 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
Jalee 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 Jalee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jalees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Indiana, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Jalee, while Texas, Florida, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jalee
The name Jalee has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the word "jala," meaning "water," and is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive name or nickname for someone who lived near a body of water or was associated with water-related activities.
In its earliest form, the name was written as "Jalika" or "Jalikā" in Sanskrit texts. Over time, as the name spread across different regions of the Indian subcontinent, it underwent various phonetic changes and evolved into the modern spelling of "Jalee."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jalee can be found in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a minor character, a warrior from the Pandava clan. However, it is unclear whether this was a proper name or a descriptive epithet.
Throughout the centuries, the name Jalee has been borne by several notable individuals, both in India and abroad. One of the earliest recorded examples is Jalee ibn Baitar (1197-1248), an Arab Muslim botanist and pharmacist from Malaga, Spain, who wrote an influential text on the medicinal properties of plants.
Another prominent figure with the name was Jalee Ali Khan (1670-1742), a Mughal military commander and nobleman who served under the emperors Aurangzeb and Bahadur Shah I. He played a crucial role in suppressing rebellions and consolidating Mughal power in the Deccan region of India.
In more recent times, Jalee Uddin Ahmed (1923-1976) was a Bangladeshi politician and freedom fighter who played a significant role in the country's independence movement against Pakistan in the 1960s and 1970s.
Jalee Srimanta (born 1936) is a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer, known for her contributions to the Odissi dance form. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her work, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Jalee Danjuma (born 1989) is a Nigerian-American fashion model and actress, who has graced the covers of various international magazines and appeared in several films and television shows.
While the name Jalee has remained relatively uncommon globally, it continues to hold significance in certain parts of India and among certain communities, particularly those with ties to the Sanskrit language and Hindu traditions.
People
Jalee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jalee 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
Jalee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jalee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 465 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jalee 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 737,106 US residents.
Is Jalee a common name?
We classify Jalee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 473 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jalee most popular?
The single biggest year for Jalee was 2005, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jalee is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jalee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jalee 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.