Jemal
Masculine · “Beauty”
Jemal is an Arabic word about beauty, and the letter at the front of it is the one that gives every European language trouble — so much so that each of them solved it differently, and one of them uses a c.
How old is the name Jemal?
Jemal first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Jemal alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 800 people named Jemal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jemal most popular?
Jemal peaked in 1969, reaching #549 nationally. See the whole 1969 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Jemal
Turkish writes this name Cemal, because the Turkish alphabet was rebuilt in the nineteen-twenties on phonetic principles and the letter c was assigned the sound English writes with j. That single decision makes Turkish spelling look baffling to English readers and makes it far more reliable than either language's traditional system — one letter, one sound, no exceptions. The word itself carries weight in Muslim usage because of a very well known saying attributed to the Prophet: that God is beautiful and loves beauty. A name built on that word is not making a claim about the child's appearance; it is pointing at a quality that the tradition treats as belonging to God first.
Meaning
Beauty
The Arabic word means beauty as a quality — of a face, of a character, of an action. It is used as a name across the Arabic-speaking world and beyond it, and the meaning is entirely settled.
Pronouncing Jemal
juh-MAHL
Two syllables with the stress at the back. Egyptian Arabic says the first letter as a hard g, which is why the same name appears as Gamal.
Nicknames for Jemal
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
- 1968
- Most boys named
- 1969204 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #549reached in 1969
- Change vs 2018
- −16.7%5 in 2023, from 6
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.
Jemal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- جمال in Arabic — same name
- Cemal in Turkish — same name
- Gamal in Egyptian Arabic — same name
Jemals among us
people named Jemal are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Jemal sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, short and unambiguously positive.
- It is recognized across the Arabic-speaking world and much of Africa and Asia.
- Every sound in it is available in English.
- Jamal is the commoner American spelling and his will be written that way.
- American speakers often move the stress to the front, which is not where it belongs.
- The name carries a religious association that some families want and others do not.
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Jemal
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Jemals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Jemal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jemal in 2025?
- Jemal is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Jemal with classmates?
- Jemal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
James#6 · John#23 · Joseph#29 · Joshua#66 · Jason#165 · Jacob#43 · Jeffrey#552 · Jonathan#89
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jemal? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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