Fun Facts About the Name Jubal
- 812 babies named Jubal: U.S. records list 812 babies given the name Jubal from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Jubal Mean?
Jubal is a Hebrew name (יוּבָל, Yuval) that comes from the Hebrew Bible. Its exact meaning is not settled. The explanation given most often connects it with יוֹבֵל (yōḇēl), "ram" or "ram's horn" - the horn sounded to announce the Jubilee year described in Leviticus 25. A second explanation links it to the noun יוּבָל (yuval), "stream" or "brook," the word used in Jeremiah 17:8 for water beside which a tree is planted. Others relate the name to the root y-b-l, "to carry, bring." The similarity to English jubilee and jubilation is misleading: jubilation comes from a separate Latin root meaning "to shout for joy." Because the biblical Jubal is presented as the ancestor of musicians, the name is sometimes tied to music, but that is a symbolic association rather than its literal etymology.
Jubal Name History & Origins
Jubal appears in Genesis 4:21, in the line of Cain. He is listed as a son of Lamech and Adah and the brother of Jabal; his half-brothers, sons of Zillah, are Tubal-cain and Naamah. The verse calls him "the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe" - the kinnor and the ʿugav - a traditional account that made him the Bible's ancestor of music. The Hebrew form יוּבָל was rendered in Greek as Ἰουβάλ and in Latin as Iubal, the forms behind the English spelling Jubal used in Bible translations.
Yuval is a familiar given name in Israel, while Jubal is the form used in English. In the United States the name is documented in the nineteenth century through Jubal Early (1816 - 1894), a Confederate general. As a literary name, Jubal Harshaw is a central character in Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (1961).
How Popular is the Name Jubal?
Jubal has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1977. Its best rank was #1,992 in 1968.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,567 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2024 | #6,293 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #7,497 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #6,303 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2021 | #5,442 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2020 | #5,348 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2019 | #6,593 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #6,166 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2017 | #6,889 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2016 | #5,037 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2015 | #5,866 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2014 | #7,275 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #6,430 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2012 | #7,831 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #10,167 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #6,887 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2009 | #5,023 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2008 | #6,962 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2007 | #8,553 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 2006 | #11,312 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #5,432 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2004 | #5,373 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2003 | #9,146 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #5,900 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #6,226 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #7,103 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1999 | #7,497 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #6,560 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #10,007 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #5,762 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #4,955 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1994 | #7,344 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #4,579 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1992 | #7,933 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #4,346 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 1990 | #6,794 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #4,659 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1988 | #2,725 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1987 | #3,629 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1986 | #3,758 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1984 | #5,964 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #3,525 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1982 | #6,847 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #4,333 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1980 | #3,176 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1979 | #4,621 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1978 | #3,145 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1977 | #2,163 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 1976 | #2,761 | 15 | 0.0010% |
| 1975 | #2,587 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 1974 | #2,614 | 15 | 0.0010% |
| 1973 | #2,272 | 18 | 0.0012% |
| 1972 | #4,201 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1971 | #2,895 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1970 | #2,032 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1969 | #2,257 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1968 | #1,992 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1967 | #2,548 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1966 | #2,006 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1965 | #2,546 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1964 | #2,748 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1963 | #3,186 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1962 | #3,835 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #3,001 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #3,855 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #2,732 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1958 | #2,724 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1957 | #2,916 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1956 | #2,434 | 12 | 0.0006% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Jubal Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are honest, benevolent, brilliant and often inventive, full of high inspirations. You are courageous, honest, determined, original and creative. You are a leader, especially for a cause. Sometimes you do not care to finish what you start, and may leave details to others. You can do well in position of authority, and prospers in intellectual and professional fields. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Jubal's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Jubal's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.