Jameal
A masculine Arabic name derived from the elements "jameel" meaning beautiful or handsome.
Name Census estimates that about 218 living Americans carry the first name Jameal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jameal today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jameal births was 1991 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jameal. 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
218
~ 1 in 1,572,268 Americans
Peak year
1991
18 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,264
Tracked since 1981
Census
Jameal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Jameal, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jameal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jameal is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (5.1%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Jameal 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 Jameal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.1% · 204
- White5.1% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 8
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 5
Popularity
Jameal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jameal from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 89 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jameal 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 Jameal 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 Jameal
The name Jameal is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a variation of the name Jamal, which is derived from the Arabic word "jamal," meaning "beauty" or "perfection." The name's roots can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language across the Middle East and North Africa.
Jameal is a masculine name that has been used throughout the Arab world for centuries. It gained popularity among Muslims as a way to honor the Prophet Muhammad's name, which also carries the root "jamal." In some Islamic traditions, the name is associated with qualities such as grace, elegance, and physical beauty.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jameal can be found in the famous Arabic literary work, "The Book of Songs" (Kitab al-Aghani), compiled by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani in the 10th century. This extensive collection of poems and songs includes references to individuals with the name Jameal, indicating its use during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jameal. One of the most famous was Jameal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897), an Islamic philosopher, religious reformer, and political activist who played a significant role in the late 19th-century Islamic revival movement.
Another prominent figure was Jameal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970), an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. He was a pivotal figure in the Arab nationalist movement and played a key role in the 1952 Egyptian Revolution.
In the field of literature, Jameal Essayyed (1934-2018) was a renowned Lebanese poet, novelist, and playwright. His works explored themes of love, exile, and the human condition, earning him recognition as one of the most influential Arab writers of the 20th century.
Jameal Khashoggi (1958-2018) was a Saudi Arabian journalist, author, and dissident who gained international attention for his criticism of the Saudi government. His assassination in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul sparked global outrage and renewed calls for press freedom and human rights in the region.
Lastly, Jameal al-Bahra (1986-) is a Bahraini professional footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Al-Shabab Club in the Saudi Professional League. He has also represented the Bahrain national team in various international competitions.
People
Jameal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jameal 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
Jameal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jameal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jameal 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 1,572,268 US residents.
Is Jameal a common name?
We classify Jameal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 224 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jameal most popular?
The single biggest year for Jameal was 1991, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jameal is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jameal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Jameal, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Jameal 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 Jameal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jameal leans strongly male. 212 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (12.4%). 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 Jameal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jameal is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (5.1%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Jameal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jameal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.1% (204 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 Jameal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jameal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jameal 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 Jameal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jameal 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 Jameal 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 are called Jameal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.