How rare is the name Jamel?

8,587 people in the United States have the first name Jamel, about 1 in 35,173. It ranks #2,727 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

JAMEL

#2,727

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,587
About
1 in 35,173
This common or more
80.7%
Who bears it

Of the 8,587 people named Jamel, 81.6% reported their origin as Black, 6.9% as Hispanic or Latino and 6.1% as White. 95.9% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Jamel peaked in 1988, when 373 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19502025
Peak year
1988
Births that year
373
In 2025*
46 ▼88%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 11,592 babies have been given the name since 1950. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Jamel by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #1,095. The largest share of babies named Jamel, 43.4%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1950s#11,72115
1960s#4,708176
1970s#1,3691,845
1980s#1,0953,195
1990s#1,3712,790
2000s#2,0601,990
2010s#3,1411,205
2020s#4,798376
Baby boom 1946–640.5%
Generation X 1965–8019.6%
Millennials 1981–9643.4%
Generation Z 1997–1226.9%
2013 and later9.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Jamel is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Jamel has been most common in New York (5.2×), North Carolina (2.1×), and Georgia (2×), and least common in Indiana (0.17×).

9,037 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Jamel

#2,725 Eliezer · 8,603#2,726 Gil · 8,600#2,728 Hao · 8,585#2,728 Jamila · 8,585

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Jamel, most common first.

#1,256 Jamal · 29,768#2,311 Janel · 11,109#3,013 Jamil · 7,428#6,105 Jameel · 2,669#8,979 Jamell · 1,582#13,642 Jamela · 880#15,541 Jamiel · 739#20,827 Jahmel · 493

Also a last name

As a last name, Jamel ranks #107,024 of 156,621, with 177 people. See Jamel as a last name

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