Jermel
A masculine name of French origin meaning "young hairy one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,292 living Americans carry the first name Jermel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jermel today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jermel births was 1981 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jermel. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 265,290 Americans
Peak year
1981
56 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,602
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jermel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 974 people with the first name Jermel, which placed it at #12,687 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
#12,687
National first-name rank
People counted
974
974 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jermel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermel is Black at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Jermel 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 Jermel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.7% · 864
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 42
- Two or more races4.3% · 42
- White1.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Jermel
Out of the 1,346 babies given the name Jermel since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Jermel as a male name
- Ranked #8,602 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1981 (56 births)
Jermel as a female name
- Ranked #12,073 in 1987
- 5 female births in 1987
- Peak: 1987 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jermel leans strongly male. 938 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 31 female bearers (3.2%).
Popularity
Jermel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jermel 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 450 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
Jermel 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 Jermel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jermels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Jermel, while Virginia, District of Columbia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jermel
The given name Jermel is a relatively modern invention with no verifiable ancient roots or etymology. It appears to be a combination of the more common names Jerome and Jeremiah, with the "mel" ending potentially influenced by names like Melvin or Melchior. There are no records of this name appearing in historical texts, religious scriptures, or ancient documents.
The earliest known use of the name Jermel dates back to the early 20th century in the United States. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Jermel Lester, born in 1912 in Alabama. He was a jazz musician and composer who played with various bands in the 1930s and 1940s.
Another notable Jermel was Jermel Hairston, a basketball player born in 1958 in North Carolina. He played for several teams in the NBA during the 1980s and early 1990s, including the Los Angeles Clippers and the Detroit Pistons.
In the field of literature, Jermel Walters was an American poet and writer born in 1971 in California. He published several collections of poetry and was known for his explorations of identity and social issues.
Jermel Silas, born in 1977 in New York, was a professional football player who played as a defensive back in the NFL for teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers.
Another individual with this name was Jermel Johnson, a visual artist born in 1985 in Texas. His work has been featured in various galleries and exhibitions, and he is known for his mixed media installations and sculptures.
While the name Jermel has seen some use over the past century, it remains relatively uncommon and lacks a deep historical or cultural significance compared to many other given names. Its modern origin and lack of widespread popularity make it difficult to trace a comprehensive history or find numerous notable figures associated with this name throughout the centuries.
People
Jermel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jermel 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
Jermel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jermel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jermel 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 265,290 US residents.
Is Jermel a common name?
We classify Jermel as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,346 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jermel most popular?
The single biggest year for Jermel was 1981, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jermel is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jermel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 974 people with the name Jermel, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,687 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 Jermel 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 Jermel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jermel leans strongly male. 938 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 31 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Jermel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermel is Black at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Jermel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jermel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.7% (864 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 Jermel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jermel a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Jermel 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 Jermel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jermel 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 Jermel 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 have the name Jermel?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Jermel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.