Jalila
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "beautiful" or "exalted".
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Jalila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jalila today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jalila births was 2001 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jalila. 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 Jalila with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
2001
13 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,812
Tracked since 1972
Census
Jalila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 357 people with the first name Jalila, which placed it at #26,204 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
#26,204
National first-name rank
People counted
357
357 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jalila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalila is White at 41.2%. The next largest groups are Black (36.4%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Jalila 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 Jalila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.2% · 147
- Black or African American36.4% · 130
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 41
- Two or more races5.6% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Jalila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jalila from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jalila remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jalila 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 Jalila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jalila
Jalila is a feminine given name with Arabic origins, derived from the root word "jalil" meaning "exalted" or "majestic." The name is believed to have emerged during the 7th century AD, around the time of the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula. It was initially used by Arab communities in the Middle East and North Africa regions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Jalila can be traced back to the 9th century, when it appeared in various Arabic literary works and historical documents. One notable mention is in the medieval Arabic text "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), which references a woman named Jalila who was a renowned singer and poet during the Abbasid era.
Throughout Islamic history, several influential women bore the name Jalila. One such figure was Jalila al-Muradiya, a 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet from Damascus, known for her spiritual teachings and devotional poetry. Another prominent Jalila was Jalila Haider, a 19th-century Indian poet and writer who composed works in Urdu and Persian languages.
In the modern era, Jalila has been the name of several notable individuals, including Jalila Essaidiya (1917-1992), a Moroccan activist and feminist who fought for women's rights and social reforms in her country. Jalila Baccar (born 1952) is a Tunisian film director and screenwriter, renowned for her contributions to Arab cinema.
Another famous bearer of the name is Jalila Kanchana (1932-2020), a Thai actress and film producer who was considered a pioneer in the Thai entertainment industry. Jalila Haider (born 1989) is a Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist, recognized for her advocacy work on women's rights and social justice issues.
While the name Jalila has Arabic roots, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions, embraced for its beautiful sound and meaning. The name continues to be a popular choice for parents seeking a name with historical significance and a connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Middle East and Islamic tradition.
People
Jalila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jalila 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
Jalila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jalila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jalila 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Jalila a common name?
We classify Jalila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 222 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jalila most popular?
The single biggest year for Jalila was 2001, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jalila is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jalila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 357 people with the name Jalila, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,204 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 Jalila 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 Jalila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jalila appears almost entirely female. Of the 354 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Jalila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jalila is White at 41.2%. The next largest groups are Black (36.4%) and Hispanic (11.5%). 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 Jalila most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jalila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.2% (147 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 Jalila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jalila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jalila 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 Jalila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jalila 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 Jalila 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 are named Jalila?
Want to know how many people share the name Jalila? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.