Jamal

Did you know?

A few things about Jamal you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Jamal

Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi journalist (1958–2018)

Choose Jamal and your child shares a first name with Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Jamal, like who?” Jamal Khashoggi's Wikipedia article is available in 83 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Jamal Khashoggi on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: April Brady / POMED, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 10,111 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Jamal, 169 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Jamal would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryJamal first shows up in US birth records in 1946, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 79 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1993, when it ranked #233. Today it's #1,196, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📉Then vs nowJamal was 3.7× more common in 2000 than it is today. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 2,705 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 10,111.
• 🍂TrendJamal has slipped 286 places over the last five years and now sits at #1,196. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedJamal is most popular in Michigan, where it ranks #601, followed by Louisiana (#672) and Ohio (#801). It's in the top 1,000 in 6 states.
• 💬MeaningIn Arabic, Jamal means “beauty”.

About the name Jamal

Jamal is a boy name of Arabic origin meaning “beauty”. It has 5 letters and 2 syllables, starting with J and ending in “-mal”. US birth records list Jamal for boys from 1946 to 2025, in 76 of those 80 years. Its best year was 1993, when it ranked #233 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #1,196, with 169 babies.

Origin:Arabic names