Given name & surname
Kemal
“one who receives the highest honor”
Kemal is used as a given name and a surname. One Turkish interpretation is “one who receives the highest honor.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Turkish interpretation is “one who receives the highest honor.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Turkish.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1965. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kemal through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 373
- 373 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 15 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,007 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −4%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,007 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 3.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,005 as a first name in 2020; 228 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Kemal’s family of names
Kemal has a related form in Kemall. In English usage, Kemal has a conventional equivalent in the Greek form Κεμάλ. In Turkish usage, Kemal continues an earlier form in كمال.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Kemal
- Kemal KılıçdaroğluTurkish politician (born 1948)
- Ibn KemalOttoman historian, jurist and poet (1469–1534)
- Kemal MontenoBosnian singer-songwriter1948–2015
- Kemal SunalTurkish actor (1944–2000)
- Kemal ReisTurkish privateer and admiral of the Ottoman Empire1451–1511
- Kemal KarpatTurkish historian (1923–2019)
- Kemal DervişTurkish economist and statesperson (1949–2023)
- Kemal TahirTurkish novelist (1910–1973)
- Kemal MalovčićBosnian singerborn 1946
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Kemal, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Kerim is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.
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Can
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Remzi
Remzi is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.
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Mahmud
“one who is praiseworthy”
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Burak
“shining steed”
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Sardar
Sardar is a surname from Persian.
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