Fun Facts About the Name Kamal
- More than 3 thousand babies named Kamal: U.S. records list 3,099 babies given the name Kamal from 1880 through 2025. Even 25 girls received the name Kamal - about 1 girl for every 123 boys.
What Does the Name Kamal Mean?
Kamal has two independent origins whose sounds happen to coincide. In Arabic, kamāl (كمال) means "perfection," "completeness," or "maturity." It comes from the root k-m-l, the same root as the verb kamala, "to be complete," and the adjective kāmil, "complete, perfect." The Arabic name is often used in compounds such as Kamāl al-Dīn, literally "perfection of the religion."
In Sanskrit, kamala (कमल) means "lotus," and the masculine form Kamal is used as a given name in Hindi and other South Asian languages with that meaning. The Sanskrit word also names a pale red color, the shade associated with the lotus flower. The Arabic and Sanskrit names are not related to each other; the resemblance is coincidental, and Kamal should not be confused with the Arabic Jamāl ("beauty"), which comes from a different root.
Kamal Name History & Origins
The Arabic name Kamāl is built from an ordinary Arabic noun for completeness or perfection, and it appears in personal names and honorific compounds from the medieval period onward. Kamāl al-Dīn al-Fārisī, a Persian mathematician and optician of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, is one example of the compound form. Because the element was so productive, Kamāl al-Dīn and similar combinations were borne by scholars, officials, and religious figures across the Arabic-speaking world, Persia, and Muslim India.
Turkish adopted the name from Arabic as Kemal, a form used by Ottoman figures including the admiral Kemal Reis in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and the poet and reformer Namık Kemal in the nineteenth. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, bore it in the twentieth century in its Turkish spelling.
In South Asia the name circulates in two overlapping streams. Muslim families in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh generally use the Arabic Kamal, while Hindu and Sikh families more often understand Kamal as the Sanskrit word for lotus, a name also connected to the feminine Kamala. The spellings Kamaal, Kemal, and Kamel reflect different transliterations and languages rather than different names. In everyday use, the Arabic and Sanskrit derivations cannot always be distinguished from the name alone, and the intended meaning depends on the family and language of the bearer.
How Popular is the Name Kamal?
Kamal 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 2009. Its best rank was #1,102 in 1979.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | #8,666 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1991 | #14,173 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #10,910 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #10,307 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,907 | 43 | 0.0025% |
| 2024 | #2,603 | 51 | 0.0030% |
| 2023 | #2,820 | 45 | 0.0026% |
| 2022 | #2,537 | 54 | 0.0031% |
| 2021 | #2,395 | 57 | 0.0033% |
| 2020 | #2,526 | 51 | 0.0030% |
| 2019 | #2,245 | 62 | 0.0035% |
| 2018 | #2,180 | 64 | 0.0035% |
| 2017 | #2,436 | 53 | 0.0029% |
| 2016 | #2,452 | 52 | 0.0027% |
| 2015 | #2,506 | 50 | 0.0026% |
| 2014 | #2,734 | 44 | 0.0023% |
| 2013 | #2,315 | 55 | 0.0029% |
| 2012 | #2,401 | 53 | 0.0028% |
| 2011 | #2,251 | 58 | 0.0031% |
| 2010 | #1,992 | 69 | 0.0036% |
| 2009 | #1,632 | 97 | 0.0049% |
| 2008 | #2,222 | 60 | 0.0029% |
| 2007 | #1,989 | 71 | 0.0034% |
| 2006 | #2,269 | 56 | 0.0027% |
| 2005 | #1,700 | 79 | 0.0040% |
| 2004 | #1,867 | 66 | 0.0033% |
| 2003 | #1,920 | 61 | 0.0031% |
| 2002 | #1,464 | 87 | 0.0045% |
| 2001 | #1,408 | 89 | 0.0046% |
| 2000 | #1,438 | 86 | 0.0044% |
| 1999 | #1,524 | 74 | 0.0039% |
| 1998 | #1,731 | 59 | 0.0031% |
| 1997 | #1,514 | 69 | 0.0037% |
| 1996 | #1,343 | 81 | 0.0043% |
| 1995 | #1,386 | 73 | 0.0038% |
| 1994 | #1,459 | 66 | 0.0034% |
| 1993 | #1,453 | 65 | 0.0033% |
| 1992 | #1,628 | 54 | 0.0027% |
| 1991 | #1,538 | 57 | 0.0028% |
| 1990 | #1,716 | 47 | 0.0023% |
| 1989 | #1,880 | 40 | 0.0020% |
| 1988 | #1,928 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 1987 | #1,552 | 46 | 0.0025% |
| 1986 | #1,679 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 1985 | #1,630 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1984 | #1,494 | 42 | 0.0023% |
| 1983 | #1,501 | 41 | 0.0023% |
| 1982 | #1,313 | 51 | 0.0028% |
| 1981 | #1,529 | 40 | 0.0022% |
| 1980 | #1,220 | 57 | 0.0032% |
| 1979 | #1,102 | 66 | 0.0038% |
| 1978 | #1,140 | 60 | 0.0037% |
| 1977 | #1,132 | 59 | 0.0036% |
| 1976 | #1,587 | 34 | 0.0022% |
| 1975 | #1,857 | 26 | 0.0017% |
| 1974 | #1,636 | 30 | 0.0019% |
| 1973 | #1,566 | 31 | 0.0020% |
| 1972 | #2,204 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 1971 | #4,668 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1970 | #2,033 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1969 | #2,962 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1968 | #3,519 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1966 | #4,241 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #4,332 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #3,729 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1946 | #3,771 | 5 | 0.0003% |
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 Kamal Shapes Your Personality and Life?
EXTREMES in fortune, health and spirituality. You are very versatile, idealistic and intuitive. You either enjoy great success or suffer abject misery. The solution is service to others. Use your leadership abilities for humanity and not for self-glorification. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for an opportunity to achieve financial and emotional security. You are basically peacemaker. You understand the law of harmony and desire to balance your life with those around you. You may feel incomplete without someone to share your love, ideals, wealth or work. You can be very sensitive and could appear a bit shy and perceptive. You have developed intuition, patience and the ability to nurture others. You can achieve the state of happiness if you are willing to accept your needs in a complimentary relationship and go to create them.
✦ Kamal's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Kamal's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.