Ramell
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly a combination of elements meaning "brave protector".
Name Census estimates that about 414 living Americans carry the first name Ramell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ramell today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramell births was 1990 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramell. 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 Ramell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
414
~ 1 in 827,909 Americans
Peak year
1990
15 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,974
Tracked since 1970
Census
Ramell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 302 people with the first name Ramell, which placed it at #29,353 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
#29,353
National first-name rank
People counted
302
302 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ramell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramell is Black at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and White (5.6%). 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 Ramell 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 Ramell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.5% · 246
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 22
- White5.6% · 17
- Two or more races4.0% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Ramell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramell from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 98 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Ramell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ramell 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 Ramell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ramells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramell
The name Ramell is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, with roots dating back to the 7th century. It is derived from the Arabic word "ramil," which means "sand" or "desert." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with individuals who lived in or hailed from desert regions of the Middle East.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled in various ways, including "Ramel," "Ramil," and "Ramill." These variations were likely due to regional dialects and the lack of standardized spelling conventions in ancient times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ramell can be found in the writings of the renowned Arab historian and geographer, Al-Masudi, who lived in the 10th century. He mentioned a individual named Ramell ibn Khalid, a prominent figure in the Islamic conquest of Persia.
During the medieval period, the name gained popularity among the Muslim communities in the Iberian Peninsula. Historical records from this era mention a scholar and poet named Ramell ibn al-Qattan, who lived in Cordoba, Spain, in the 11th century.
In the 12th century, a famous traveler and writer named Ramell ibn Battuta hailed from the city of Tangier, Morocco. His detailed accounts of his extensive travels across Africa, Asia, and Europe provide valuable insights into the cultural and geographical landscapes of that time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Ramell was Ramell al-Din al-Jawi, a 16th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from the island of Java, in present-day Indonesia. His writings on Islamic philosophy and spirituality had a significant influence on the spread of Sufism in Southeast Asia.
In more recent times, the name Ramell has been relatively uncommon, with only a handful of notable individuals carrying it. One such person was Ramell Ross, an American filmmaker and photographer born in the 20th century, known for his unique portrayal of contemporary African American life through his artistic works.
While the name Ramell has roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographical and religious boundaries, with individuals from various backgrounds adopting it over the centuries. Despite its relative rarity in modern times, the name continues to carry a rich historical legacy and cultural significance.
People
Ramell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramell 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
Ramell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 414 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramell 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 827,909 US residents.
Is Ramell a common name?
We classify Ramell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 425 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramell most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramell was 1990, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramell is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ramell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 302 people with the name Ramell, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,353 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 Ramell 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 Ramell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ramell leans strongly male. 267 people counted with this name were male (88.7%), compared with 34 female bearers (11.3%). 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 Ramell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramell is Black at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and White (5.6%). 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 Ramell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ramell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (246 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 Ramell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ramell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramell 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 Ramell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ramell 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 Ramell 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 named Ramell?
Find out how many people have the name Ramell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.