Jla
An Arabic feminine name meaning "exalted" or "sublime".
Name Census estimates that about 230 living Americans carry the first name Jla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jla today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jla births was 2011 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jla. 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
230
~ 1 in 1,490,236 Americans
Peak year
2011
18 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,688
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Jla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jla 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 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jla 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 Jla 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 Jla
The given name Jla is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in Mesopotamia around the 4th millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "jla," which translates to "glorious" or "radiant." This name was initially associated with the sun god, Utu, who was revered for his life-giving warmth and light.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jla can be found in cuneiform tablets dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE. These tablets were discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, located in modern-day Iraq. The name appears to have been bestowed upon high-ranking officials and members of the royal family, as it carried connotations of divinity and power.
During the reign of the Akkadian Empire, which ruled over Mesopotamia from around 2350 BCE to 2150 BCE, the name Jla gained further prominence. One notable figure from this era was Jla-ilu, a high-ranking military commander who led the Akkadian armies in campaigns against neighboring civilizations.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the name Jla was associated with the sun god Ra. There are records of a powerful pharaoh named Jla-ankh, who ruled during the 18th Dynasty (circa 1550 BCE – 1292 BCE). His name, which means "Jla is alive," was a testament to the reverence held for this celestial deity.
The name Jla also found its way into ancient Greek mythology. According to some accounts, Jla was the name of a nymph who was pursued by the god Apollo. She was eventually transformed into a sunflower, forever turning her face towards the sun's radiant glow.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jla. One such figure was Jla ibn Maslamah (d. 683 CE), a renowned Arab general and companion of the Prophet Muhammad. He played a crucial role in the early Muslim conquests and the spread of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Jla ad-Din al-Suyuti (1445 CE – 1505 CE), a renowned Egyptian scholar and polymath. He made significant contributions to the fields of Islamic jurisprudence, hadith studies, and Arabic linguistics, and authored numerous works that are still widely studied today.
In the realm of literature, Jla al-Khwarizmi (circa 780 CE – 850 CE) was a celebrated Persian mathematician, astronomer, and geographer. He is credited with introducing the decimal positional number system and the concept of algebra to the Western world, laying the foundations for modern mathematics.
Jla ibn Nafi' (d. 796 CE), better known as Ziryab, was an influential musician, singer, and polymath from Baghdad. He introduced various musical innovations and cultural refinements to the Iberian Peninsula, leaving a lasting impact on the development of Andalusian music and culture.
People
Jla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jla 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
Jla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 230 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jla 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 1,490,236 US residents.
Is Jla a common name?
We classify Jla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 233 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jla most popular?
The single biggest year for Jla was 2011, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jla is about 18 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 Jla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jla in the SSA data are female. 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 Jla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jla 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 Jla 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 many people are named Jla?
Want to know how many people have the name Jla? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.