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Very Rare

Jehlani

A name of uncertain origin, possibly Arabic, with uncertain meaning.

Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Jehlani. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Jehlani today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jehlani births was 2022 (60 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Jehlani. 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

353

~ 1 in 970,975 Americans

Peak year

2022

60 babies that year

Average age

6

years old

2024 SSA rank

#5,496

Tracked since 2000

Gender

Gender distribution for Jehlani

Jehlani is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 355 total registrations, 105 (29.6%) were male and 250 (70.4%) were female.

30% male
70% female
Male105 (29.6%)Female250 (70.4%)

Jehlani as a male name

  • Ranked #6,991 in 2024
  • 12 male births in 2024
  • Peak: 2018 (16 births)

Jehlani as a female name

  • Ranked #5,496 in 2024
  • 23 female births in 2024
  • Peak: 2022 (44 births)

Popularity

Jehlani: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Jehlani 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 227 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

MaleFemale
01530456020002005201020152020

Decades

Jehlani 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 Jehlani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
2000s505
2010s4083123
2020s60167227

Geography

Where Jehlanis live

Origin

Meaning and history of Jehlani

The name Jehlani has its origins in Arabic and Swahili cultures. It is derived from the Arabic word "jahlan" which means "ignorant" or "unwise". The name was likely given to children in hopes that they would grow up to be wise and knowledgeable individuals.

In its Swahili form, the name is spelled "Jhelani" and has a similar meaning related to wisdom and knowledge. It is believed to have been introduced to East Africa through Arab and Islamic influences in the region.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the 10th-century Arabic text "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), which mentions a poet named Jehlani ibn Abi Arabi. However, the exact details of this person's life and work are unclear.

In the 12th century, a famous Sufi mystic and scholar named Moinuddin Chishti, also known as Jehlani, lived in what is now modern-day Afghanistan and India. He is credited with spreading the Chishti order of Sufism in South Asia.

Another notable figure with the name Jehlani was Jehlani ibn Yahya al-Barmaki, a 9th-century Persian scholar and statesman who served as a vizier during the Abbasid Caliphate.

In the 13th century, a scholar and poet named Jehlani al-Djilani lived in Baghdad and wrote several works on Islamic jurisprudence and mysticism.

In more recent history, Jehlani Hussain was a renowned Pakistani diplomat and politician who served as the country's Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to several nations in the late 20th century.

These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Jehlani, though there may be others whose records have been lost or obscured over time.

People

Jehlani + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Jehlani 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

Jehlani: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Jehlani?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jehlani 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 970,975 US residents.

Is Jehlani a common name?

We classify Jehlani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 355 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Jehlani most popular?

The single biggest year for Jehlani was 2022, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jehlani is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Jehlani a female name?

Yes, 70.4% of people registered as Jehlani 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.

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.

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