Black Ghetto Baby Names | Jamaal, Jamal, Jamaul

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  Black Ghetto Baby Names is a website celebrating the paradoxically concurrent history and novelty found in African American names. We will discuss everything having to do with the names, and look forward to having you with us on all or part of our adventure.

Jamaal, Jamal, Jamaul

On this fine evening at Black Ghetto Baby Names I would like to share a quintessential name for the black male: Jamal.

The name Jamal is of Middle Eastern origin. It is widely known to mean “handsome,” which it makes it a popular choice for parents who want to designate their child by a special name. A variation on this origin roots the name in Arabic for “beauty.” Typically, since it is considered to be a boy’s name, parents like the “handsome” designation for their baby boys, although it also means “grace.”

The name has gained popularity among the community and is also popular among Muslims. It consistently ranked among the top one thousand baby names in the United States throughout the 1990s. In the new millennium it has dipped slightly in popularity. In 1968, Jamal entered the list of popular baby names at number 796 for boys. Throughout the 1970s, is hovered in the mid 300 range of names. By the 1980s, Jamal was rising in popularity, clocking in at 236 in 1988. In the 1990s, it continued to stay in the 200s, until 1997 when it dropped to 317. From there it has steadily dropped in popularity. Currently (from the 2006 report), the United States’ Social Security Administration reports the name as being at number 504 on the list of popular names for boys.

Celebrities who share the name include Cosby kid, Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Besides “The Cosby Show,” Warner also starred in “Malcolm and Eddie” with Eddie Griffin and “Listen Up” with Jason Alexander. Neither show rivaled the popularity of “The Cosby Show,” but Warner still remains a working actor (and personally, the author of Black Ghetto Baby Names very much enjoyed Malcom and Eddie). Variations of the name include adding an “h” in various places or spelling it with a “u” after either a. Some spellings even include a second “a,” as in “Jamaal.” Jamal is also interesting because it is also a surname of some families, such as the famed Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Thank you for joining me and Black Ghetto Baby Names in this adventure that wound through the Middle East and out into the diaspora where it resides proudly. And with that young child growing in your womb, I wish all you young mothers precious names and lives for your children. I hope that you will look at my list of popular African American names,  as you choose one out for yourself. Have a fine night, all.
DeShawn.

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