NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Jamal

A masculine Arabic name meaning "beauty" or "perfection".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Jamal is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Jamal popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #757, with 45 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1996, with 139 births.

This profile covers 2,542 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 32% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 2,570 living people in the UK are called Jamal. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Jamal ranked #757 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 45 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 1996, when 139 boys were registered as Jamal.
  • Jamal ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #352 in 2024.
  • About 2,570 living people in the UK are estimated to have Jamal as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#757

2024

Births in 2024

45

Latest year

Peak year

1996

139 births

Estimated living

2,570

2026

Meaning

What does Jamal mean?

The name Jamal has its origins in the Arabic language, deriving from the word "jamal" which means "beauty" or "camel." It has been used as a masculine given name in the Arab world and among Muslim communities for centuries.

One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Jamal dates back to the 7th century AD, when it was borne by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, a renowned Islamic philosopher and political activist who played a significant role in the late 19th-century Islamic revival movement. He was born in 1838 in present-day Iran and died in 1897 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire.

Another notable figure with the name Jamal is Jamal ad-Din al-Qurashi, a 13th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus, Syria. He was known for his expertise in Islamic law and his contributions to the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence.

In the 14th century, Jamal ad-Din al-Wasiti, an Iraqi mathematician and astronomer, made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and astronomical calculations. He was born in 1293 in Wasit, Iraq, and died in 1349 in Damascus.

During the 19th century, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, an Islamic reformist and political activist, played a pivotal role in the pan-Islamic movement. He was born in 1838 in present-day Iran and died in 1897 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire.

Another notable figure with the name Jamal is Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist and dissident who was assassinated in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. He was born in 1958 in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

The name Jamal has been widely used across the Arab world and among Muslim communities, with variations in spelling and pronunciation depending on the region and language. Its association with beauty, grace, and nobility has contributed to its enduring popularity as a masculine given name.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Jamal over time

The chart below shows babies named Jamal registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Jamal, the clearest high point is 1996. The latest England and Wales figure is 45 births in 2024, compared with 139 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Jamal
03570104139199620102024

Decades

Jamal by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Jamal was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #715 238 5
2010s #548 700 10
2000s #309 1,085 10
1990s #234 519 4

Geography

Where Jamal is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Jamal. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Jamal ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #352 in 2024.

Scotland
10

Across the UK

Jamal in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#352 in 2024

11 years of NRS records, 50 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Jamal

  • Jamal Musiala

    association football player

    German association football player

    2003-

  • Jamal Baptiste

    association football player

    English footballer

    2003-

  • Jamal Lewis

    association football player; athletics competitor

    Northern Irish-English association football player

    1998-

  • Jamal Petgrave

    judoka

    British judoka

    1997-

  • Jamal Lowe

    association football player

    Jamaican footballer

    1994-

  • Jamal Willer

    association football player

    association football player

    1994-

  • Jamal Blackman

    association football player

    English association football player (born 1993)

    1993-

  • Jamal Ford-Robinson

    rugby union player

    English rugby union footballer

    1993-

Related

Names similar to Jamal

FAQ

Jamal: questions and answers

How popular is the name Jamal in the UK right now?

In 2024, Jamal was ranked #757 for boys in England and Wales, with 45 births registered.

When was Jamal most popular?

The peak year on record was 1996, with 139 babies registered as Jamal in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Jamal?

A masculine Arabic name meaning "beauty" or "perfection".

How many people are called Jamal in the UK?

A total of 2,542 babies have been registered as Jamal across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 50 more in Scotland.

Where is Jamal most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Jamal ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #352 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.