2000
#36,189
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 585
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.22
Rare Last name
Jabbar
A surname meaning "great" or "powerful" in Arabic.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,608 Americans carry the last name Jabbar. That puts it at #19,315 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.47 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 213,156 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Jabbar surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Jabbar with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
1.6K
1 in 213,156
Census rank
#19,315
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,402 bearers of the surname Jabbar in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.47 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 19315th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Jabbar, the largest self-reported group is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.0%) and Black (15.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Jabbar
The surname Jabbar is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "jabbar," which means "powerful" or "mighty." The name likely emerged during the early days of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century AD.
Jabbar was initially used as a descriptive term, referring to individuals with a commanding presence or those who held positions of authority. Over time, it evolved into a hereditary surname, passed down from generation to generation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jabbar can be found in the works of Arabic scholars and historians from the 9th and 10th centuries. These writers often mentioned prominent figures with the surname Jabbar, suggesting its widespread use during the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 11th century, the name Jabbar appeared in various manuscripts and records related to the Seljuk Empire, a medieval Sunni Muslim empire that ruled over parts of Central Asia and the Middle East. Several notable military leaders and administrators from this period bore the surname Jabbar.
During the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and the Levant (1250-1517), the name Jabbar was associated with influential families and individuals who held high-ranking positions within the government and military. Some of the earliest examples of place names derived from the surname Jabbar can be traced back to this era, such as Jabarah in present-day Syria.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have carried the surname Jabbar:
1. Al-Muqtadir Billah (870-932), an Abbasid caliph who ruled from 908 to 932 AD.
2. Ibn Jabbar al-Asadi (935-1025), a renowned Muslim theologian and philosopher from Basra.
3. Shams al-Din al-Jabbar (1165-1237), a Sufi mystic and poet from Ghor, Afghanistan.
4. Al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din Jabbar (1205-1259), a Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria.
5. Nasser al-Jabbar (1937-2020), an Iraqi politician and diplomat who served as the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament.
While the surname Jabbar has its roots in the Middle East and the Islamic world, it has since spread to various parts of the globe, carried by individuals and families of Arab descent.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jabbar
Among Census respondents with the surname Jabbar, the largest self-reported group is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.0%) and Black (15.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Jabbar bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Jabbar surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.7% · 627
- Asian and Pacific Islander33.0% · 462
- Black or African American15.9% · 223
- Two or more races4.1% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Jabbar
Jabbar appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#24,466
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,023
+438 bearers (+74.9%)
Per 100,000 0.35
Rank movement Up 11,723 places
2020
#19,315
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,402
+379 bearers (+37.0%)
Per 100,000 0.47
Rank movement Up 5,151 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #36,189 | 585 | 0.22 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #24,466 | 1,023 | 0.35 | +438 bearers (+74.9%) | Up 11,723 places |
| 2020 | #19,315 | 1,402 | 0.47 | +379 bearers (+37.0%) | Up 5,151 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Jabbar surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #24,466 | #19,315 | 21.1% |
| Count | 1,023 | 1,402 | 37.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.35 | 0.47 | 34.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Jabbar bearers went from 1,023 to 1,402 (+37.0% change). The surname moved up 5,151 positions in the national ranking, going from #24,466 to #19,315.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Jabbar
FAQ
Jabbar surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Jabbar?
Name Census estimates that about 1,608 living Americans carry the surname Jabbar. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 213,156 residents.
How common is Jabbar?
Jabbar ranks #19,315 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.47 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,402 people with the surname Jabbar. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,608), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.47 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.47 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Jabbar.
Has Jabbar become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Jabbar went from 1,023 recorded bearers to 1,402. That is an increase of 379 (+37.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #24,466 to #19,315.
What does the Census say about the background of Jabbar?
Among Census respondents with the surname Jabbar, the largest self-reported group is White at 44.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.0%) and Black (15.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Jabbar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.7% (627 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Jabbar appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (44.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (33.0%), Black (15.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Jabbar (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Jabbar mean?
A surname meaning "great" or "powerful" in Arabic. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Jabbar (0.47 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Jabbar?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.