Names/J

Jelani

boys’ name · 84%girls’ name · 16%Rising · modern nameCompare

Jelani is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 94 births. Its best rank was 935th, in 1998.

Rank in 2024
outside the top 1,000
Births in 2024
940.01% of boys
Peak year
1998151 births
Best rank
#935in 1998
Since 1973
5,525people given the name
Babies named Jelani, by year of birthboysgirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

4,651 boys have been named Jelani in the United States since 1973, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1998, with 151 births.

It is rising: its share of births is at least one and a half times what it was ten years ago.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 2002, and the 2000s alone account for 25%. It has spent 1 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

Jelani is used for both sexes: 16% of its bearers are girls (874), most of them born around 2023.

Rank among boys, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadeboys named Jelani
1970s387
1980s548
1990s1,101
2000s1,161
2010s909
2020s545

In 1998, its biggest year

Jelani was the 935th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1998 were Michael, Jacob, Matthew, Joshua and Christopher. See all of 1998.

Names that rose and fell with Jelani

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.