Jermal
A variant spelling of Jeremiah, a masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "exalted by Yahweh".
Name Census estimates that about 723 living Americans carry the first name Jermal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jermal today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jermal births was 1982 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jermal. 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
723
~ 1 in 474,072 Americans
Peak year
1982
33 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,100
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jermal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 521 people with the first name Jermal, which placed it at #19,995 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
#19,995
National first-name rank
People counted
521
521 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jermal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermal is Black at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Jermal 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 Jermal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.5% · 482
- Two or more races3.5% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 11
- White1.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Jermal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jermal from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 231 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
Jermal 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 Jermal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jermals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jermal
The name Jermal is believed to have originated from the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the first millennium BC. The root of the name is thought to be derived from the Aramaic word "germal," which means "to complete" or "to perfect."
In its earliest forms, the name was likely spelled with slight variations, such as "Jermalah" or "Germala," reflecting the linguistic and cultural influences of the region. However, over time, the spelling and pronunciation have evolved to the modern form of "Jermal."
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some scholars have speculated that it may have been used as a personal name during the time of the Aramaic Empire, which spanned across parts of the Middle East, including modern-day Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jermal was a prominent merchant who lived in the city of Palmyra (modern-day Syria) during the 3rd century AD. This individual, known as Jermal ibn Salim, was renowned for his successful trade ventures along the Silk Road, facilitating the exchange of goods between the East and the West.
Another notable figure was Jermal al-Saghir, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century AD. His works, which celebrated the beauty of Arabic language and literature, were highly influential during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
In the 12th century, Jermal al-Din was a revered Sufi mystic and theologian from Persia (modern-day Iran). His teachings on spiritual enlightenment and the unity of all religions had a profound impact on the intellectual and spiritual landscape of the time.
During the Renaissance period, Jermal Barzani was a prominent Kurdish leader and military strategist who played a crucial role in the resistance against the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. His exploits and leadership skills were celebrated in various historical accounts and legends.
In more recent times, Jermal Nasser was an Egyptian novelist and playwright who gained recognition for his thought-provoking works that explored themes of social injustice and political oppression in the mid-20th century.
While these are just a few examples, the name Jermal has been carried by individuals from various cultures and backgrounds throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on the tapestry of human civilization.
People
Jermal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jermal 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
Jermal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jermal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 723 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jermal 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 474,072 US residents.
Is Jermal a common name?
We classify Jermal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 754 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jermal most popular?
The single biggest year for Jermal was 1982, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jermal 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 Jermal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 521 people with the name Jermal, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,995 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 Jermal 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 Jermal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jermal appears almost entirely male. Of the 516 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Jermal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermal is Black at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Jermal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jermal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (482 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 Jermal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jermal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jermal 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 Jermal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jermal 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 Jermal 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 Jermal?
You can see how many people have the name Jermal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.