Jamarl
Of uncertain origin, possibly an invented name or spelling variant.
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Jamarl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jamarl today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamarl births was 1989 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamarl. 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 Jamarl with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
1989
15 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1995 SSA rank
#8,232
Tracked since 1980
Census
Jamarl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Jamarl, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamarl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamarl is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Jamarl 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 Jamarl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.2% · 124
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 6
- Two or more races4.3% · 6
- White1.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Jamarl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamarl from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 80 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Jamarl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamarl 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 Jamarl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamarl
The name Jamarl is of ancient Arabic origin, tracing its roots back to the 7th century CE during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. It is derived from the Arabic word "jamal," which means beauty or grace. The name was likely bestowed upon children in hopes that they would embody these qualities as they grew older.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled "Jamaal" or "Jamaal," with the "r" sound added later as it spread across different regions and cultures. The name gained popularity among Arab and Muslim communities, appearing in various historical records and texts from the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jamarl was Jamarl ibn Abdallah, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century CE in present-day Iraq. His works were widely celebrated and influenced the literary traditions of the time.
In the 12th century, Jamarl al-Kindi, a philosopher and mathematician from Basra, made significant contributions to the fields of optics and physics. His treatise on light and vision, known as "De Aspectibus," was a groundbreaking work that influenced later European scholars.
During the Ottoman Empire, Jamarl Pasha was a prominent military leader and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier, the highest-ranking political advisor to the Sultan, in the late 16th century. He played a crucial role in the expansion and administration of the empire.
In more recent times, Jamarl Abdel-Nasser, an Egyptian politician and revolutionary, became the second President of Egypt in 1956. He was a pivotal figure in the Arab nationalist movement and played a significant role in the Suez Crisis, which challenged Western imperialism in the region.
Another notable figure with the name Jamarl was Jamarl Amin, a Ugandan military officer and dictator who ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979. His brutal regime was responsible for numerous human rights atrocities, and he was eventually overthrown by Tanzanian and Ugandan rebel forces.
While the name Jamarl has its roots in Arabic culture, it has been adopted and adapted by various communities around the world, each adding their own unique cultural and linguistic nuances to its meaning and significance.
People
Jamarl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamarl 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
Jamarl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamarl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamarl 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Jamarl a common name?
We classify Jamarl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamarl most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamarl was 1989, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamarl is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamarl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Jamarl, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Jamarl 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 Jamarl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamarl appears almost entirely male. Of the 138 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jamarl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamarl is Black at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Jamarl most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamarl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (124 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 Jamarl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamarl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamarl 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.
Is Jamarl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamarl 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 Jamarl 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 people have the name Jamarl?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Jamarl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.