Jamillah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 981 living Americans carry the first name Jamillah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jamillah today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jamillah births was 1975 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jamillah. 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 Jamillah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
981
~ 1 in 349,393 Americans
Peak year
1975
60 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,166
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jamillah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 943 people with the first name Jamillah, which placed it at #12,972 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
#12,972
National first-name rank
People counted
943
943 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jamillah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamillah is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Jamillah 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 Jamillah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.2% · 813
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 47
- Two or more races3.9% · 37
- White3.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Jamillah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jamillah from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 421 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jamillah 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 Jamillah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jamillahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Jamillah, while Texas, Illinois, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jamillah
The name Jamillah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Arabic word "jamil," which means "beautiful" or "lovely." The name can also be transliterated as Jamilah or Jameela.
In Arabic, the name Jamillah is often associated with beauty, grace, and elegance. It is a popular choice among Arabic-speaking communities and is found in various regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Jamillah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the early days of Islamic civilization. However, it is possible that the name was in use even earlier, as the concept of beauty and appreciation for it was deeply rooted in pre-Islamic Arabic culture.
One notable historical figure with the name Jamillah was Jamillah al-Bukhariyya, a 9th-century female scholar and poet from Bukhara, present-day Uzbekistan. She was renowned for her knowledge of Arabic literature and her contributions to the field of poetry.
Another prominent individual named Jamillah was Jamillah bint al-Muqaddam, a 12th-century princess and poet from Al-Andalus (present-day Spain and Portugal). She was known for her literary talents and her patronage of the arts and sciences.
In the 13th century, Jamillah al-Baghdadiyya was a famous poet and calligrapher from Baghdad, Iraq. Her works were widely celebrated and she was considered a master of the Arabic language.
During the 15th century, Jamillah bint Ibrahim al-Nabulsi was a renowned Syrian scholar and poet. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to Arabic literature.
In more recent history, Jamillah Muddaris (1892-1950) was an Iraqi artist and pioneer of modern art in the Arab world. She is celebrated for her innovative and unique style, which blended traditional Arabic motifs with contemporary Western influences.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Jamillah across various regions and time periods. While it originated in the Arabic language, the name has been embraced by diverse communities, reflecting the universal appreciation for beauty and grace.
People
Jamillah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jamillah 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
Jamillah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jamillah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 981 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jamillah 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 349,393 US residents.
Is Jamillah a common name?
We classify Jamillah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,048 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jamillah most popular?
The single biggest year for Jamillah was 1975, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jamillah is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jamillah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 943 people with the name Jamillah, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,972 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 Jamillah 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 Jamillah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jamillah leans strongly female. 929 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Jamillah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jamillah is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Jamillah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jamillah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (813 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 Jamillah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jamillah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jamillah 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 Jamillah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jamillah 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 Jamillah 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 Jamillah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.