Jaylani
A masculine Arabic name meaning "one who loves himself".
Name Census estimates that about 3,252 living Americans carry the first name Jaylani. It is a predominantly female name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Jaylani today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaylani births was 2023 (503 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaylani. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Jaylani is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 89 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Jaylani is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 105,398 Americans
Peak year
2023
503 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#614
Tracked since 2002
Census
Jaylani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 959 people with the first name Jaylani, which placed it at #12,817 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
#12,817
National first-name rank
People counted
959
959 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaylani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaylani is Hispanic at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) 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 Jaylani 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 Jaylani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino76.5% · 734
- Black or African American13.3% · 128
- Two or more races4.5% · 43
- White3.2% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Jaylani
Jaylani leans heavily female at 97.3% of total registrations, but 89 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jaylani as a male name
- Ranked #9,350 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (15 births)
Jaylani as a female name
- Ranked #614 in 2024
- 485 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (496 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaylani leans strongly female. 895 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 62 male bearers (6.5%).
Popularity
Jaylani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaylani from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,002 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaylani 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 Jaylani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaylanis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jaylani, while Utah, Rhode Island, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaylani
The name Jaylani has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a modern combination of the names Jaya and Lani, which were derived from Sanskrit words meaning "victory" and "delicate or tender," respectively. The name Jaylani likely emerged in the 20th century as a unique blend of these two older names.
While the specific name Jaylani does not appear to have direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the individual components Jaya and Lani have deeper roots. The Sanskrit word "jaya" was often used in Hindu mythology and epics to signify triumph or success. Similarly, "lani" was a common term referring to grace or delicacy in various Indian languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jaylani being used was in the late 20th century. A notable individual with this name was Jaylani Alikhan, a Pakistani cricketer who played domestic cricket in the 1990s and early 2000s. Another person named Jaylani was Jaylani Hussein, a Somali politician who served as the Minister of Finance in the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in the mid-2000s.
In the realm of literature, Jaylani Mukalazi was a Ugandan writer and poet known for his works exploring themes of identity and cultural heritage. He published several collections of poetry and prose in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Moving to the field of arts and entertainment, Jaylani Hartwell is an American actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films since the early 2000s. She is known for her roles in projects like "The New Edition Story" and "Greenleaf."
Lastly, in the world of business, Jaylani Abdi is a Somali entrepreneur and author who founded an online platform aimed at promoting African businesses and entrepreneurs. His book, "The Pursuit of Somali Millennials," discusses the challenges and opportunities faced by young African professionals.
People
Jaylani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaylani 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
Jaylani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaylani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaylani 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 105,398 US residents.
Is Jaylani a common name?
We classify Jaylani as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,273 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaylani most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaylani was 2023, when 503 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaylani is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jaylani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 959 people with the name Jaylani, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,817 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 Jaylani 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 Jaylani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaylani leans strongly female. 895 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 62 male bearers (6.5%). 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 Jaylani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaylani is Hispanic at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.3%) 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 Jaylani most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jaylani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (734 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 Jaylani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaylani a female name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Jaylani 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 Jaylani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaylani 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 Jaylani 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 Jaylani?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.