Jamyla
Of Arabic origin, meaning "pretty" or "beautiful one".
Name Census estimates that about 707 living Americans carry the first name Jamyla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamyla today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamyla births was 2011 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamyla. 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
707
~ 1 in 484,801 Americans
Peak year
2011
43 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,010
Tracked since 1986
Census
Jamyla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 467 people with the first name Jamyla, which placed it at #21,646 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
#21,646
National first-name rank
People counted
467
467 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamyla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamyla is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (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 Jamyla 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 Jamyla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.8% · 410
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 25
- Two or more races4.5% · 21
- White1.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Jamyla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamyla 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 328 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jamyla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamyla 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 Jamyla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jamyla, while Louisiana, Missouri, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamyla
The name Jamyla is a fascinating one with a rich history and cultural significance. Its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language, where it is derived from the word "jameel," meaning "beautiful" or "lovely." The earliest recorded use of this name dates back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age, a period of remarkable cultural, scientific, and intellectual advancement in the Middle East and North Africa.
Jamyla was a name that gained popularity among the Arab world and gradually spread to other regions through trade, migration, and cultural exchange. In ancient texts, such as the "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), written in the 9th century, there are references to women named Jamyla who were celebrated for their beauty and grace.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Jamyla. One of the earliest recorded examples is Jamyla bint al-Muqaddam (c. 780 - 850 CE), a renowned Arab poet and scholar from Basra, Iraq, who was known for her mastery of Arabic literature and her contributions to the field of poetry.
Another notable figure is Jamyla al-Hudhali (c. 1150 - 1220 CE), a Moroccan mystic and Sufi poet whose works explored themes of divine love and spiritual enlightenment. Her poetic compositions were widely admired and have been preserved in various anthologies.
In the 13th century, Jamyla al-Baghdadiyya (c. 1210 - 1280 CE) was a celebrated singer and musician from Baghdad. She was renowned for her exceptional talent and her ability to captivate audiences with her melodious voice and mastery of musical instruments.
During the Ottoman Empire, Jamyla Isfahani (c. 1570 - 1630 CE) was a prominent Persian calligrapher and artist, known for her exquisite calligraphic works and intricate illuminations adorning manuscripts and books.
In more recent times, Jamyla Bashir (1933 - 2009) was a renowned Pakistani classical singer and actress, who was celebrated for her contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Pakistani music and culture.
While the name Jamyla has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been embraced by various communities around the world, each adding their own unique cultural imprint to its meaning and significance.
People
Jamyla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamyla 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
Jamyla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamyla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 707 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamyla 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 484,801 US residents.
Is Jamyla a common name?
We classify Jamyla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 714 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamyla most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamyla was 2011, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamyla is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamyla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 467 people with the name Jamyla, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,646 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 Jamyla 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 Jamyla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamyla appears almost entirely female. Of the 469 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Jamyla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamyla is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (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 Jamyla most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamyla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (410 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 Jamyla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamyla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamyla 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 Jamyla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamyla 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 Jamyla 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 Jamyla?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.