Jamari
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "prince of water".
Name Census estimates that about 15,436 living Americans carry the first name Jamari. It is a predominantly male name (94.4% of registrations). The average person named Jamari today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamari births was 2008 (817 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamari. 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 Jamari with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Jamari is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,205 Americans
Peak year
2008
817 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#560
Tracked since 1979
Census
Jamari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,036 people with the first name Jamari, which placed it at #2,458 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
#2,458
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,036 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamari is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Jamari 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 Jamari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.1% · 8,741
- Two or more races6.3% · 637
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 471
- White1.4% · 136
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Jamari
Jamari leans heavily male at 94.4% of total registrations, but 877 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jamari as a male name
- Ranked #560 in 2024
- 528 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (774 births)
Jamari as a female name
- Ranked #6,743 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (54 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamari leans strongly male. 9,392 people counted with this name were male (93.7%), compared with 632 female bearers (6.3%).
Popularity
Jamari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamari 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 5,890 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jamari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamari 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 Jamari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Florida, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Jamari, while Nevada, Nebraska, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 390 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamari
The name Jamari is believed to have originated from the Swahili language, which is spoken primarily in East Africa. The name is derived from the Arabic word "jamar," meaning "live coal" or "glowing ember." It is thought to have emerged in the region during the 8th or 9th century when Arabic influence spread through trade and cultural exchange.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jamari can be found in "The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea," a ancient Greek text written in the 1st century AD. This document, which describes trade routes and markets in the Indian Ocean region, mentions a place called "Jameraina" near present-day Somalia, suggesting the name was in use at that time.
In the 13th century, a Somali poet and traveler named Jamari Ali ibn Suleiman al-Bari was known for his writings about his travels through the Middle East and North Africa. His works provide insight into the culture and traditions of the time and showcase the name's historical presence in the region.
During the 16th century, a Swahili philosopher and scholar named Jamari bin Abdi al-Kilwa gained recognition for his contributions to Islamic thought and his writings on ethics and morality. His works were widely studied and influential in East Africa during that period.
In more recent times, Jamari Traylor, an American basketball player born in 1994, has gained recognition for his skills on the court. He played college basketball at Kansas State University and has since played professionally in various leagues around the world.
Another notable figure with the name Jamari is Jamari Courtney, a contemporary American author and poet. Born in 1990, Courtney has published several collections of poetry and has been recognized for her unique style and exploration of themes related to identity and social issues.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Jamari, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and diverse presence across various fields and time periods.
People
Jamari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamari 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
Jamari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,436 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamari 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 22,205 US residents.
Is Jamari a common name?
We classify Jamari as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,600 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamari most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamari was 2008, when 817 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamari is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,036 people with the name Jamari, or 3.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,458 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 Jamari 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 Jamari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamari leans strongly male. 9,392 people counted with this name were male (93.7%), compared with 632 female bearers (6.3%). 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 Jamari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamari is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Jamari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (8,741 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 Jamari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamari a male name?
Yes, 94.4% of people registered as Jamari in the SSA data are male. 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 Jamari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamari 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 Jamari 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 common is the name Jamari?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.