Jemari
A feminine Malay name meaning "fingers".
Name Census estimates that about 316 living Americans carry the first name Jemari. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jemari today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jemari births was 2009 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jemari. 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
316
~ 1 in 1,084,666 Americans
Peak year
2009
27 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,604
Tracked since 1998
Census
Jemari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 248 people with the first name Jemari, which placed it at #33,395 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
#33,395
National first-name rank
People counted
248
248 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jemari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jemari is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Jemari 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 Jemari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.1% · 211
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 16
- Two or more races5.6% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- White0.4% · 1
Popularity
Jemari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jemari from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 135 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jemari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jemari 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 Jemari 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 Jemari
The name Jemari is believed to have originated from the Malay language, which is spoken primarily in Malaysia, Indonesia, and parts of Thailand and Singapore. It is a combination of two Malay words, "jema" meaning person or people, and "ari" meaning day or sun.
The name Jemari is thought to have been in use since ancient times, possibly dating back to the Srivijaya Empire, which ruled parts of Southeast Asia from the 7th to the 13th century. During this period, Malay culture and language flourished, and names with similar roots and meanings were common.
While the name Jemari does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its roots can be traced back to the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of the Malay people. The name itself is believed to symbolize the idea of a person being as radiant and essential as the sun.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jemari can be found in the historical records of the Sultanate of Malacca, a major Malay empire that existed from the 15th to the 16th century. Jemari Iskandar, a nobleman and ambassador during this period, is mentioned in several accounts of diplomatic missions and trade negotiations.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Jemari. Jemari Singa (1845-1920) was a prominent Malay warrior and leader who played a significant role in the resistance against Dutch colonization in Indonesia. Jemari Kartini (1879-1904) was a pioneering Javanese woman who fought for women's rights and education in the Dutch East Indies.
Jemari Aman (1910-1986) was a respected Malay poet and writer, whose works helped preserve and promote the Malay language and literature. Jemari Harun (1930-2001) was a renowned Malaysian artist, known for his vibrant paintings and sculptures that celebrated the rich cultural tapestry of his homeland.
Another notable figure was Jemari Ariffin (1941-2018), a Malaysian politician and diplomat who served as the country's ambassador to several nations and played a crucial role in strengthening international relations.
People
Jemari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jemari 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
Jemari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jemari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 316 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jemari 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 1,084,666 US residents.
Is Jemari a common name?
We classify Jemari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jemari most popular?
The single biggest year for Jemari was 2009, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jemari is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jemari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 248 people with the name Jemari, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,395 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 Jemari 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 Jemari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jemari leans strongly male. 218 people counted with this name were male (86.9%), compared with 33 female bearers (13.1%). 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 Jemari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jemari is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Jemari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jemari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (211 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 Jemari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jemari a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jemari 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 Jemari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jemari 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 Jemari 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 Jemari?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.