Jelani
#2,583 for girls in 2025, 67 births · #2,145 for boys in 2025, 67 births
Given to boys 83.4% of the time
- Peak · boys
- 1998 · 151 births
- Debut · boys
- 36 births
- In top 100 · boys
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · boys
- 4,718since 1973
Jelani over time
Rank within each sex, plotted together. Click any year to open it.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #2,583 | 67 | #2,145 | 67 |
| 2024 | #2,150 | 88 | #1,752 | 94 |
| 2023 | #2,176 | 87 | #1,404 | 131 |
| 2022 | #2,228 | 84 | #1,421 | 129 |
| 2021 | #3,112 | 52 | #1,635 | 102 |
| 2020 | #3,607 | 41 | #1,731 | 89 |
| 2019 | #3,718 | 40 | #1,737 | 90 |
| 2018 | #4,562 | 30 | #1,809 | 84 |
| 2017 | #4,220 | 34 | #1,605 | 100 |
| 2016 | #5,622 | 23 | #1,618 | 99 |
| 2015 | #7,266 | 16 | #1,717 | 90 |
| 2014 | #10,129 | 10 | #2,044 | 69 |
| 2013 | #10,235 | 10 | #1,794 | 80 |
| 2012 | #8,632 | 13 | #1,729 | 87 |
| 2011 | #8,614 | 13 | #1,476 | 110 |
| 2010 | #11,246 | 9 | #1,574 | 100 |
| 2009 | #8,454 | 14 | #1,573 | 103 |
| 2008 | #8,965 | 13 | #1,594 | 99 |
| 2007 | #9,007 | 13 | #1,760 | 84 |
| 2006 | #8,715 | 13 | #1,391 | 114 |
| 2005 | #7,891 | 14 | #1,431 | 103 |
| 2004 | #8,716 | 12 | #1,196 | 128 |
| 2003 | #4,943 | 25 | #1,155 | 130 |
| 2002 | #7,045 | 15 | #1,098 | 133 |
| 2001 | #6,619 | 16 | #1,129 | 124 |
| 2000 | #7,580 | 13 | #1,021 | 143 |
| 1999 | #10,345 | 8 | #1,130 | 116 |
| 1998 | #4,796 | 22 | #931 | 151 |
| 1997 | #5,228 | 19 | #1,051 | 121 |
| 1996 | #4,184 | 25 | #1,071 | 113 |
| 1995 | #5,958 | 15 | #1,062 | 112 |
| 1994 | #7,604 | 11 | #1,119 | 102 |
| 1993 | #6,264 | 14 | #1,138 | 98 |
| 1992 | #7,067 | 12 | #1,119 | 96 |
| 1991 | #7,430 | 11 | #1,030 | 110 |
| 1990 | #12,958 | 5 | #1,201 | 82 |
| 1989 | #10,847 | 6 | #1,374 | 64 |
| 1988 | #10,386 | 6 | #1,286 | 64 |
| 1987 | — | #1,234 | 62 | |
| 1986 | — | #1,662 | 38 | |
| 1985 | — | #1,644 | 38 | |
| 1984 | #9,144 | 6 | #1,198 | 58 |
| 1983 | — | #1,562 | 38 | |
| 1982 | — | #1,179 | 61 | |
| 1981 | #10,411 | 5 | #1,246 | 54 |
| 1980 | #9,095 | 6 | #1,070 | 71 |
| 1979 | — | #1,100 | 66 | |
| 1978 | — | #1,121 | 61 | |
| 1977 | — | #1,027 | 70 | |
| 1976 | — | #1,154 | 55 | |
| 1975 | #7,984 | 6 | #1,258 | 46 |
| 1974 | — | #1,124 | 53 | |
| 1973 | — | #1,400 | 36 | |
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The first year at least five boys were named Jelani! It came in at #1,400, and was given to 36 baby boys.
Quietest stretch: 1973–1975, when fewer than 54 boys a year got the name.
Where Jelani is popular in 1979
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- New York#663 · 1 in 10,092
- California#989 · 1 in 19,970
Best ever in a state: #198 in District of Columbia, 2000.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | #663 | 11 | 1 in 10,092 |
| California | #989 | 9 | 1 in 19,970 |
| Alabama | — | — | — |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Arkansas | — | — | — |
| Colorado | — | — | — |
| Connecticut | — | — | — |
| Delaware | — | — | — |
| District of Columbia | — | — | — |
| Florida | — | — | — |
| Georgia | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
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Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the boys born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Jelani
- 393 spots since 2024 (#1,752 → #2,145)
- 414 spots since 2020 (#1,731 → #2,145)
- 428 spots since 2015 (#1,717 → #2,145)
- Biggest jump: 120 spots in 1998 (#1,051 → #931)
- Biggest drop: 199 spots in 1999 (#931 → #1,130)
- Debuted 1973
- Peaked 1998 at #931 (151 births)
- Births halved by 2014, 16 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 1 yr · 1998
- Highest: 1 in 12,658 boys born in 1998 were named Jelani (0.01%)
- Latest: 1 in 25,494 boys born in 2025 (0.00%)
- 24.6% of all boys named Jelani (1,161) were born in this decade
- Mostly boys until 2024, mostly girls since
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 387 | #1,027 (1977) | #1,169 |
| 1980s | 548 | #1,070 (1980) | #1,346 |
| 1990s | 1,101 | #931 (1998) | #1,085 |
| 2000s | 1,161 | #1,021 (2000) | #1,335 |
| 2010s | 909 | #1,476 (2011) | #1,710 |
| 2020s | 612 | #1,404 (2023) | #1,681 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 boys in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Jelani in 1979
Top boys' names in 1979
More about 1979
boys
1,721,536 boys got a published name in 1979; 1 in 26,084 of them was named Jelani, which outranked 84.4% of the 7,071 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 24.1% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).
- #1,089Nikolaus67
- #1,089Rasheen67
- #1,089Rosendo67
- #1,100Jelani66
- #1,100Cristian66
- #1,100Kamal66
- #1,100Leigh66
- #1,108Darrius65
- #1,108Detrick65
- #1,108Luciano65
Tied with 7 names at #1,100; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.