Jamel is an American spelling of the Arabic Jamal or Jamil, which means "handsome" or "beautiful". It became popular in African American families in the 1970s along with Jamal and Jamar, and it is also used in North Africa. Jamel was at number 802 in 2000, peaked at number 791 in 2002 and then dropped out of the US top 1000; it ranks number 2779 in 2025.