Belal
Masculine · “Arabic "moisture”
Bilal was chosen for his voice. An Abyssinian who had been enslaved in Mecca and was freed after his conversion, he was appointed by Muhammad as the first muezzin, the caller to prayer — and the name is now carried by millions of men across the Muslim world because of that appointment.
How old is the name Belal?
Belal first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Belal alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 700 people named Belal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Belal most popular?
Belal peaked in 1990, reaching #2695 nationally. Today it ranks #7194, 4,499 places below that high. See the whole 1990 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From bilāl to Belal
The story of Belal
Bilal ibn Rabah was born in Mecca to an Abyssinian mother and was enslaved; he was among the earliest converts to Islam and was tortured for it, then bought and freed by Abu Bakr. When the call to prayer was instituted in Medina, Muhammad appointed him to give it, and he became the first muezzin — a position of visibility in a society organized by lineage, given to a man with none. That story is why the name spread so widely and why it is common far beyond the Arab world, in West Africa, South Asia, Turkey and Indonesia. In American records it appears with Arab and South Asian immigration, and the Belal spelling peaks in 1990.
Meaning
Arabic "moisture, refreshing water"
From Arabic bilāl, wetness or moistening — related to the sense of quenching thirst, and used in classical Arabic for water that revives. The name is inseparable from Bilal ibn Rabah, the companion of the Prophet. Belal, Bilal, Bilaal and Belaal are all transliterations of the same Arabic word; the vowel in the first syllable is short and has no fixed English spelling.
How the name formed
- bilāl
- Bilal
- Belal
Related forms: بلال · Bilal · Bilal · بلال
Pronouncing Belal
bih-LAAL
Two syllables, stress on the second, with a long open vowel in the second syllable and a short one in the first. English speakers often say BEE-lal, reversing both.
Nicknames for Belal
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1977
- Most boys named
- 200328 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2695reached in 1990
- Change vs 2024
- −21.4%11 in 2025, from 14
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Belal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- بلال in Arabic — transliteration
- Bilal in English — spelling variant
- Bilal in Turkish — same name
- بلال in Urdu — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Belals among us
people named Belal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was named Belal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Fergus test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Belal's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fergus climbed just as high around 1918, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fergus's path sketches the road Belal is walking now.
Belal sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Belal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Belal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries a specific, well-documented historical figure of great standing.
- The meaning is settled and pleasant.
- It is used across the entire Muslim world rather than one region.
- Bilal is the more common English transliteration and will be substituted.
- English speakers regularly move the stress to the first syllable.
- The first vowel has no settled English spelling.
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What they receive
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Belal
Masculine · #7194 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Belals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Belal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Belal in 2025?
- Belal ranks #7194 among US boy names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Belal?
- About 1 in every 155,280 US boys born in 2025 was named Belal — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Belal with classmates?
- Belal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Belal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Junius#7194 · Orie#7194 · Shade#7194 · Chesley#7194 · Joesph#7194 · Lofton#7194 · Macon#7194 · Benjiman#7194
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Belal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Belal and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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