Jaala
A feminine name of Hindi origin meaning "a net or trap".
Name Census estimates that about 350 living Americans carry the first name Jaala. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jaala today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jaala births was 2004 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jaala. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
350
~ 1 in 979,298 Americans
Peak year
2004
18 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,503
Tracked since 1976
Census
Jaala in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 361 people with the first name Jaala, which placed it at #26,014 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,014
National first-name rank
People counted
361
361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jaala
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaala is Black at 44.9%. The next largest groups are White (41.8%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jaala described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jaala at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American44.9% · 162
- White41.8% · 151
- Two or more races5.8% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Jaala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jaala from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 135 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jaala remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jaala by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jaala during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jaalas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jaala
The name Jaala is believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent, derived from Sanskrit roots. It is a feminine name with various potential meanings, including "waterfall," "stream," or "net."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jaala can be found in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Puranas. In these sacred scriptures, it is mentioned as a reference to the flow of divine energy or the interconnectedness of all things, akin to the flow of a river or the intricacies of a net.
During the medieval period, the name gained popularity among the royal families and aristocracy of India. Notable historical figures bearing the name Jaala include Jaala Devi, a 12th-century queen consort of the Chahamana dynasty, and Jaala Bai, a 16th-century courtesan and poet renowned for her contributions to the Braj Bhasha literature.
In the 18th century, Jaala Begum, a prominent figure in the Mughal court, was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the cultural landscape of the time. Her name became synonymous with elegance and refinement.
Another notable figure was Jaala Rani, a 19th-century queen of the princely state of Jaipur, who was celebrated for her philanthropic endeavors and her support for education and social reforms.
In more recent times, Jaala Kooner, a British-Indian music producer and DJ, has gained recognition for her innovative contributions to the electronic music scene, bringing the name Jaala into the modern era.
While the name Jaala has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, it has transcended geographical boundaries and found appreciation across various cultures, serving as a reminder of the interconnectedness of the world and the timeless beauty of nature's elements.
People
Jaala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jaala as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jaala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jaala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 350 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jaala going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 979,298 US residents.
Is Jaala a common name?
We classify Jaala as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 362 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jaala most popular?
The single biggest year for Jaala was 2004, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jaala is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jaala in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 361 people with the name Jaala, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,014 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jaala in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jaala?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jaala leans strongly female. 346 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 12 male bearers (3.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jaala?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jaala is Black at 44.9%. The next largest groups are White (41.8%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jaala most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jaala in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (162 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jaala in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jaala a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jaala in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jaala still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jaala in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jaala can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Jaala?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Jaala, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.