Jermell
An American masculine name derived from Germany, meaning "noble leader".
Name Census estimates that about 591 living Americans carry the first name Jermell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jermell today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jermell births was 1981 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jermell. 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
591
~ 1 in 579,957 Americans
Peak year
1981
32 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2021 SSA rank
#7,834
Tracked since 1972
Census
Jermell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 407 people with the first name Jermell, which placed it at #23,894 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
#23,894
National first-name rank
People counted
407
407 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jermell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermell is Black at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Jermell 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 Jermell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.9% · 370
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 18
- Two or more races3.2% · 13
- White1.5% · 6
Popularity
Jermell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jermell from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 225 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
Jermell 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 Jermell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jermells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Missouri, Ohio recorded the most babies named Jermell, while Ohio, Missouri, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jermell
The name Jermell is of English origin and is believed to have emerged in the late 19th century. It is a combination of the Germanic name Jeremiah and the French name Mell or Mel. The name Jeremiah can be traced back to the Hebrew name Yirmeyahu, which means "Yahweh has uplifted" or "Yahweh has appointed." The French name Mell or Mel is derived from the Latin name Amelius, which means "industrious" or "hardworking."
The earliest recorded use of the name Jermell is found in the United States census records from the late 1800s. However, it was relatively uncommon until the 20th century. One of the earliest known individuals with the name Jermell was Jermell Jackson, an American boxer who competed in the early 1900s. He was born in 1889 and was known for his participation in several high-profile boxing matches in the early 20th century.
Another notable individual with the name Jermell was Jermell Stokes, an American musician and singer who was active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was born in 1932 and was a part of the Harlem Renaissance music scene. Stokes is known for his contributions to the development of jazz and blues music during that era.
In the field of literature, Jermell Timmons was an American author and poet who lived from 1920 to 2005. He is best known for his collection of poems titled "Echoes of the Soul," which explored themes of identity, love, and social justice.
Jermell Davis was an American civil rights activist who played a significant role in the struggle for racial equality in the United States. Born in 1935, he was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement and participated in several marches and protests, including the famous March on Washington in 1963.
Another individual with the name Jermell who made a mark in history was Jermell Pritchard, a British explorer and adventurer who lived from 1890 to 1962. He is known for his expeditions to various parts of the world, including Africa, Asia, and South America, where he documented the cultures and landscapes he encountered.
While the name Jermell has roots in various linguistic and cultural traditions, it remains a relatively uncommon name, especially in modern times. However, the individuals mentioned above have contributed to various fields, including sports, music, literature, civil rights activism, and exploration, leaving their mark on history.
People
Jermell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jermell 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
Jermell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jermell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 591 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jermell 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 579,957 US residents.
Is Jermell a common name?
We classify Jermell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 615 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jermell most popular?
The single biggest year for Jermell was 1981, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jermell 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 Jermell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 407 people with the name Jermell, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,894 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 Jermell 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 Jermell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jermell leans strongly male. 397 people counted with this name were male (96.1%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.9%). 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 Jermell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jermell is Black at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Jermell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jermell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (370 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 Jermell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jermell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jermell 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 Jermell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jermell 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 Jermell 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 Jermell as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Jermell, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.