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Jamel

#2,778 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Jamel has been given to 11,592 babies in the U.S. since 1950. In 2025 it ranked #2,778 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1988, with 360 recorded.

Babies named Jamel, 2025

1 in 72,100

Jamel over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Jamel: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Jamel means

Jamel is a given name.

The naming story behind Jamel

Wikidata records Jamel as a unisex given name. The entity identifier is Q16796264, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,225 boys were recorded with the name Jamel between 1950 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 360 in 1988; its best national rank was #467 in 1983.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,821 in 2020 to #2,778 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,422 in 2015 to #2,778 in 2025.

In the United States, 367 girls were recorded with the name Jamel between 1961 and 2003. Its highest annual count was 18 in 1980; its best national rank was #3,772 in 1972.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Jamel?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 72,100
46 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 37,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,778
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
49,955 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jamel sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 49,955 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jamel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jamels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jamel was born before 1991 — so the typical Jamel is around 34 today.

Median birth year
1991
About 34 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
27.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
30.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
11,225
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 27.4% of all recorded uses (3,072).

Is Jamel rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+31
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−957
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,356
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.38×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
12.8%
Peak was 1988 (360)
Years since peak
37
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#467
1983

Spellings of Jamel

Jamel is not the most common spelling — James is, with 69.4% against Jamel's 0.15%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Jamel is used

Across 2016–2025, Jamel was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 9,091 boys, against 1 in 22,681 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in 100,000).

111 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 9,091
  2. 2Georgia1 in 11,111
  3. 3Michigan1 in 16,667
  4. 4Florida1 in 20,000
  5. 5South Carolina1 in 20,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 25,000
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 25,000
  8. 8Virginia1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Jamel around the world

Where Jamel ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2022
    #4,002
    in 2022
  • France
    1950–2025
    #4,962
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2017
    #2,569
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1983–2010
    #754
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Jamel

People whose public names include Jamel, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Jamel in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Jamel. Linked forms have their own page here.

Jamelle

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Jamel by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,778
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 957
Best rank ever
#467
1983
Peak year
1988
360 that year
First recorded
1950
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,225
Count in 2025
46

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,772
1972
Peak year
1980
18 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2003
All-time count
367
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Jamel

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JamirJamarJamilJameyJamaalJamariJamalJaminJamonJameelJamieJamisonJamellJamereJamarionJameerJamallRomelJamarrJamezJamierJamarcusJameJameson

Names with a curve like Jamel

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Jamel, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AntwanKoreyKristoferAntwonKaseyBrentonDejuanKoryRigobertoSheaArronMarques

Sibling names for Jamel

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Jamel

Top names of 1988, Jamel's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1983Boys' names starting with J