Khaleel
Masculine · “close friend”
Khaleel is an Arabic word for a close friend — not an acquaintance but the intimate one — and it is the title given to Abraham in Islam: the friend of God.
How old is the name Khaleel?
Khaleel first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Khaleel alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 1,200 people named Khaleel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Khaleel most popular?
Khaleel peaked in 1999, reaching #1824 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 1,490 places below that high. See the whole 1999 chart.
Where it comes from
From khalil to Khaleel
The story of Khaleel
Arabic distinguishes several degrees of friendship and khalil names the deepest — the friend whose company has entered the character. Its application to Abraham gave it standing well beyond ordinary use, and it has been a personal name since the earliest Islamic period. It traveled with Arabic into Persian, Urdu, Turkish and the Malay world. Khaleel with the doubled e is the South Asian and American spelling; Khalil is the more usual Arabic transliteration.
Meaning
close friend, intimate companion
From Arabic khalil, a friend of the closest kind; the Qur'an calls Abraham Khalilullah, the friend of God, and the title is used of him throughout Islamic tradition.
How the name formed
- khalil
- Khaleel
Related forms: Khalil · Halil · Khaleel · Halil
Pronouncing Khaleel
kha-LEEL
Two syllables with the stress on the long second. The kh is a throat sound English does not have and is usually said as a plain k.
Nicknames for Khaleel
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 199954 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1824reached in 1999
- Change vs 2024
- −31.4%35 in 2025, from 51
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.
Khaleel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Khalil in Arabic — spelling variant
- Halil in Turkish — same name
- Khaleel in Urdu — same name
- Halil in Bosnian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, New York, Texas.
Khaleels among us
people named Khaleel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Khaleel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Khaleel
- #3314
- Khaleel on the 2025 chart
- #691
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Khaleel went to 35 boys in 2025, but Kalel, Kaleel and Calel and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 243, which makes it the 691st most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,623 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 7,029 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,802 for Khaleel itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Daris test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Khaleel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Daris climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Daris's path sketches the road Khaleel is walking now.
Khaleel 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
Where Khaleel is headed
Khaleel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Khaleel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Khaleel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning of unusual warmth — friendship of the closest kind.
- Recognized across the Arab world, Turkey, South Asia and the Balkans.
- Two syllables and an easy rhythm for English speakers.
- Khalil is the more usual transliteration and will be offered as a correction.
- The kh will be said as a plain k in English, which loses a real Arabic sound.
- Khaleel, Khalil and Kahlil are all in use — the last is a well-known poet's spelling.
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What they receive
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Khaleel
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Khaleels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Khaleel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Khaleel?
- Khaleel is one of 5 recorded spellings. Kalel is the more common one — 180 births in 2025 against 35 for Khaleel.
- How popular is the name Khaleel in 2025?
- Khaleel ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Khaleel?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Khaleel — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Khaleel with classmates?
- Khaleel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Khaleel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Khaleel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Khaleel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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