Jeliel
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "unveiler of secrets" or "God uncovers".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Jeliel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jeliel today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jeliel births was 2009 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jeliel. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Jeliel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
2009
9 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,113
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Jeliel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jeliel from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 9 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jeliel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jeliel 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 Jeliel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jeliel
The name Jeliel has its origins in Hebrew culture and language, dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Hebrew words "El" meaning "God" and "Yalal" meaning "to praise" or "to celebrate." The name is often interpreted to mean "one who praises God" or "praised by God."
Jeliel is a variant spelling of the name Yaliel, which appears in the Book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible. In this text, Yaliel is mentioned as one of the leaders of the Tribe of Gad during the Israelites' journey through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jeliel was a 12th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Provence, France, known as Judah ben Jeliel. He was a prominent figure in the field of Jewish mysticism and is believed to have contributed to the development of the Kabbalah.
In the 16th century, Jeliel ben Solomon, a Jewish philosopher and physician from Italy, gained recognition for his works on logic and metaphysics. He is remembered for his treatise "Shaar ha-Shamayim" (Gate of Heaven), which explored the relationship between religion and philosophy.
During the 17th century, Jeliel ben Abraham, a Moroccan-born Jewish scholar, made significant contributions to the study of the Talmud and Jewish law. He lived and taught in various communities across North Africa and the Middle East, leaving a lasting impact on the intellectual and religious landscape of his time.
In the 19th century, Jeliel ben Abraham Mizrahi, a prominent rabbi and scholar from Jerusalem, was renowned for his expertise in Jewish law and his works on the Shulchan Aruch, a widely studied code of Jewish religious laws.
Another notable figure was Jeliel ben Abraham Algazi, an 18th-century Italian rabbi and scholar, who authored several influential works on Jewish law and ethics, including "Shaarei Yosher" (Gates of Righteousness).
While the name Jeliel has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has been adopted and used across various communities and traditions over the centuries, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions to various fields, including philosophy, religion, and scholarship.
People
Jeliel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jeliel 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
Jeliel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jeliel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jeliel 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Jeliel a common name?
We classify Jeliel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jeliel most popular?
The single biggest year for Jeliel was 2009, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jeliel is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Jeliel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jeliel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jeliel 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 Jeliel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jeliel 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 Jeliel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Jeliel?
See how many people have the name Jeliel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.