Jalayah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "noble" or "sublime."
Name Census estimates that about 2,107 living Americans carry the first name Jalayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jalayah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jalayah births was 2022 (155 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jalayah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jalayah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jalayah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 162,674 Americans
Peak year
2022
155 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,750
Tracked since 1994
Census
Jalayah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,041 people with the first name Jalayah, which placed it at #12,081 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
#12,081
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,041 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jalayah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalayah is Black at 83.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Jalayah 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 Jalayah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.9% · 873
- Two or more races7.2% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 65
- White1.5% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Jalayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jalayah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,089 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jalayah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jalayah 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 Jalayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jalayahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Florida, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Jalayah, while Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jalayah
The name Jalayah is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "jalal," which means "glory" or "majesty." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the medieval period, when Arabic culture and language were flourishing.
In its earliest form, the name was likely spelled "Jalaliah" or a similar variation. As it spread to different regions and languages, it underwent various phonetic changes, resulting in the modern spelling of "Jalayah."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the writings of the renowned Muslim scholar and philosopher Al-Ghazali, who lived from 1058 to 1111 CE. He mentioned a student named Jalayah in one of his treatises, suggesting that the name was in use during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Jalayah. One such person was Jalayah al-Basri, a prominent Sufi mystic who lived in the 9th century CE. She was known for her profound spiritual teachings and is revered in the Islamic mystical tradition.
In the 12th century, Jalayah bint al-Qadi was a renowned poet and scholar from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). Her poetic works were celebrated for their depth and eloquence, and she was highly regarded in the literary circles of her time.
During the Ottoman Empire, Jalayah Hatun was a influential figure in the 16th century. She was the daughter of Sultan Selim II and played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of the empire.
Another notable bearer of the name was Jalayah al-Kindi, a distinguished mathematician and astronomer from the 9th century CE. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and was highly respected for her scholarly works.
While the name Jalayah has its roots in Arabic culture, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world. However, its historical ties to the Middle East and the Islamic tradition remain an integral part of its rich heritage and meaning.
People
Jalayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jalayah 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
Jalayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jalayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,107 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jalayah 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 162,674 US residents.
Is Jalayah a common name?
We classify Jalayah as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,124 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jalayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jalayah was 2022, when 155 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jalayah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jalayah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,041 people with the name Jalayah, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,081 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 Jalayah 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 Jalayah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jalayah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,048 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Jalayah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalayah is Black at 83.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.2%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Jalayah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jalayah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.9% (873 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 Jalayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jalayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jalayah 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 Jalayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jalayah 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 Jalayah 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 Jalayah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.