Ramal
A masculine Arabic name meaning "sand dunes" or "sandy desert".
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the first name Ramal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ramal today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramal births was 1981 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramal. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ramal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
125
~ 1 in 2,742,035 Americans
Peak year
1981
9 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,623
Tracked since 1977
Census
Ramal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 158 people with the first name Ramal, which placed it at #44,091 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
#44,091
National first-name rank
People counted
158
158 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ramal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramal is Black at 61.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.8%) and White (10.1%). 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 Ramal 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 Ramal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.4% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.8% · 25
- White10.1% · 16
- Two or more races7.0% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 9
Popularity
Ramal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramal from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ramal 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 Ramal 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 Ramal
The name Ramal is of Arabic origin, with roots tracing back to the 7th century and the rise of Islam. It is derived from the Arabic word "raml," which means "sand" or "desert." This connection to the arid landscapes of the Arabian Peninsula reflects the nomadic Bedouin culture that thrived in the region during ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Ramal can be found in the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. It appears in reference to the desert sands and the harsh conditions endured by the early followers of the faith. This association with the Qur'an imbued the name with a sense of spiritual significance and resilience.
Throughout Islamic history, Ramal has been a popular name among Arabic-speaking communities, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. Some notable historical figures who bore this name include Ramal ibn Yahya, a 9th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Basra, Iraq, and Ramal al-Din al-Ghazali, a 12th-century Persian philosopher and theologian.
In the 13th century, the name gained further prominence with the birth of Ramal al-Din Ibn al-Wazir, a renowned Egyptian mathematician and astronomer. His contributions to the field of mathematics, including his work on equations and the calculation of planetary movements, cemented his place in the annals of Islamic science.
Moving forward in time, the 16th century saw the rise of Ramal Khan, a powerful military commander in the Mughal Empire of South Asia. His exploits on the battlefield and his strategic acumen earned him a place in the chronicles of the Mughal dynasty.
During the 19th century, Ramal al-Butrus emerged as a prominent figure in the Arab literary renaissance. Born in Lebanon, he was a prolific writer and poet, known for his contributions to the revival of the Arabic language and the promotion of Arab cultural identity.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and cultural significance associated with the name Ramal. Its deep roots in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition have endowed it with a sense of resilience, wisdom, and a connection to the natural world, making it a name that has transcended generations and geographical boundaries.
People
Ramal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ramal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramal 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 2,742,035 US residents.
Is Ramal a common name?
We classify Ramal as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramal most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramal was 1981, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramal is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ramal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 158 people with the name Ramal, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,091 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 Ramal 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 Ramal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ramal leans strongly male. 139 people counted with this name were male (83.7%), compared with 27 female bearers (16.3%). 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 Ramal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramal is Black at 61.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.8%) and White (10.1%). 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 Ramal most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ramal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.4% (97 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 Ramal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ramal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramal 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 Ramal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ramal 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 Ramal 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 Ramal?
You can see how many people have the name Ramal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.