Jarrel
An English variant of the French name Gerald, of Germanic origin meaning "spear ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 891 living Americans carry the first name Jarrel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jarrel today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jarrel births was 1987 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jarrel. 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
891
~ 1 in 384,685 Americans
Peak year
1987
64 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,024
Tracked since 1919
Census
Jarrel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 741 people with the first name Jarrel, which placed it at #15,497 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
#15,497
National first-name rank
People counted
741
741 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jarrel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jarrel is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.2%) and Hispanic (8.2%). 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 Jarrel 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 Jarrel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.5% · 448
- White19.2% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 61
- Two or more races6.9% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 10
Popularity
Jarrel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jarrel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 332 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
Jarrel 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 Jarrel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jarrels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Jarrel, while Maryland, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jarrel
The name Jarrel is believed to have originated from the French language, with its roots traced back to the Middle Ages. It is thought to be a variant of the name Jared, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yāred, meaning "descent" or "he who descended."
During the medieval period, the name Jarrel was primarily used in France and the surrounding regions, particularly among the nobility and aristocracy. It is possible that the name was introduced to other parts of Europe through trade, cultural exchange, or military campaigns.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jarrel can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name had already made its way to England by the late 11th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jarrel. One such figure was Jarrel de Bourbon (1268-1325), a French nobleman and military commander who served under King Philip IV of France during the Hundred Years' War.
Another prominent figure was Jarrel de Montfort (1321-1387), a prominent English landowner and member of the House of Montfort, a powerful noble family during the Middle Ages.
In the 16th century, Jarrel de Noailles (1515-1585) was a French diplomat and statesman who served as the ambassador to England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Jarrel de Saussure (1737-1799) was a Swiss geologist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of alpine geology and the formation of mountains.
In more recent times, Jarrel Daniels (1920-2008) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer who played a pivotal role in the development of the bebop jazz style in the 1940s.
While the name Jarrel may have waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, it has maintained a presence throughout history, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and the diverse individuals who have carried this name.
People
Jarrel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jarrel 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
Jarrel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jarrel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 891 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jarrel 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 384,685 US residents.
Is Jarrel a common name?
We classify Jarrel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,019 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jarrel most popular?
The single biggest year for Jarrel was 1987, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jarrel is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jarrel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 741 people with the name Jarrel, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,497 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 Jarrel 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 Jarrel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jarrel leans strongly male. 734 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 18 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Jarrel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jarrel is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (19.2%) and Hispanic (8.2%). 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 Jarrel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jarrel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (448 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 Jarrel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jarrel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jarrel 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 Jarrel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jarrel 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 Jarrel 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 Americans are named Jarrel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.