Jamella
Feminine name derived from the Arabic name Jamila meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 440 living Americans carry the first name Jamella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamella today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamella births was 1988 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamella. 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
440
~ 1 in 778,987 Americans
Peak year
1988
21 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,300
Tracked since 1963
Census
Jamella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 423 people with the first name Jamella, which placed it at #23,223 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
#23,223
National first-name rank
People counted
423
423 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamella is Black at 79.2%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Jamella 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 Jamella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.2% · 335
- White9.2% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 19
- Two or more races4.0% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Jamella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamella from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 145 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamella 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 Jamella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamellas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamella
The name Jamella is a variant of the Arabic name Jamila, which means "beautiful" or "lovely." It has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, and is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the Medieval period.
Jamella is a relatively rare name, and its earliest recorded use dates back to the 13th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jamella al-Andalusiyya, a renowned Arabic poet and scholar who lived in Spain during the 13th century.
In the 15th century, Jamella al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi calligrapher and artist, gained recognition for her intricate and beautiful calligraphy work. Her works were highly sought after by the nobility and are still admired today for their exceptional craftsmanship.
Another notable figure in history was Jamella bint Abi al-Qasim, a 16th-century Moroccan scholar and writer who made significant contributions to the fields of literature and poetry. Her works were widely circulated and studied in the Arab world during her time.
In the 19th century, Jamella bint Ahmed al-Kabir, a Sudanese princess and philanthropist, was known for her charitable works and dedication to improving the lives of the underprivileged. She established several schools and hospitals, leaving a lasting impact on her community.
More recently, Jamella Haid, a Syrian-American author and activist born in 1959, has gained recognition for her writings on Middle Eastern culture, politics, and women's rights. Her books and advocacy work have shed light on important issues and given voice to marginalized communities.
While the name Jamella is not as common as its root name Jamila, it has a rich historical background and has been borne by notable figures across different fields and regions throughout history. The name's meaning and cultural significance have remained consistent, celebrating beauty and grace.
People
Jamella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamella 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
Jamella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 440 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamella 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 778,987 US residents.
Is Jamella a common name?
We classify Jamella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 463 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamella most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamella was 1988, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamella is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 423 people with the name Jamella, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,223 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 Jamella 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 Jamella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamella appears almost entirely female. Of the 426 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jamella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamella is Black at 79.2%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.5%). 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 Jamella most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.2% (335 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 Jamella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamella 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.
Is Jamella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamella 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 Jamella 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 named Jamella?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.