Ramel
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "bearlike" or "lion".
Name Census estimates that about 1,501 living Americans carry the first name Ramel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ramel today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramel births was 1985 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramel. 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 Ramel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 228,351 Americans
Peak year
1985
54 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,136
Tracked since 1967
Census
Ramel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,204 people with the first name Ramel, which placed it at #10,871 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
#10,871
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,204 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ramel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramel is Black at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Ramel 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 Ramel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.4% · 884
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 120
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 95
- White4.3% · 52
- Two or more races4.1% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Ramel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 419 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ramel 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 Ramel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ramels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Virginia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Ramel, while North Carolina, Virginia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 239 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramel
The name Ramel has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is believed to have been derived from the Arabic word "ramal," which means "sand" or "desert." This suggests that the name may have originated among Arabic-speaking nomadic tribes or desert-dwelling communities in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ramel can be found in the 8th century, during the Abbasid Caliphate. There are references to a prominent scholar and poet named Ramel al-Basri, who lived in the city of Basra (present-day Iraq) and was renowned for his contributions to Arabic literature and linguistics.
In ancient Islamic texts and historical records, the name Ramel is occasionally mentioned in association with individuals who hailed from desert regions or had a connection to the desert landscape. However, the name does not appear to have any direct religious or scriptural significance within Islam or other major faiths.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ramel. One example is Ramel Essa, a prominent Palestinian historian and writer who lived from 1882 to 1957. Another is Ramel Sardinha, an Indian cricketer who played domestic cricket in the early 20th century, born in 1892.
In the realm of literature, one can find Ramel Mallah, an acclaimed Lebanese poet and author who made significant contributions to modern Arabic poetry. He was born in 1909 and passed away in 1981.
Another noteworthy figure is Ramel Wat, a Cambodian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Cambodia in the 1990s. He played a crucial role in Cambodia's international relations during that period.
Lastly, Ramel Masrie, a Syrian artist and sculptor born in 1937, gained recognition for his unique and intricate metal sculptures, which often drew inspiration from the desert landscape and Arabic calligraphy.
While the name Ramel may not be widely popular today, it carries a rich historical legacy rooted in the Arabic language and culture, with connections to the desert, literature, politics, and art throughout various eras.
People
Ramel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ramel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,501 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramel 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 228,351 US residents.
Is Ramel a common name?
We classify Ramel as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,550 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramel was 1985, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramel is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ramel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,204 people with the name Ramel, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,871 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 Ramel 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 Ramel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ramel leans strongly male. 1,145 people counted with this name were male (95.4%), compared with 55 female bearers (4.6%). 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 Ramel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramel is Black at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Ramel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ramel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (884 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 Ramel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ramel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramel 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 Ramel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ramel 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 Ramel 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 Ramel as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ramel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.