Explore the Family Name Jilani

The meaning of Jilani

Afghanistani, Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi: from Jīlāni, an Arabic spelling of the Persian (Iranian) habitational name Gilani.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Jilani in the United States?

In terms of popularity, the surname Jilani has experienced significant growth based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000, Jilani was ranked as the 65,492nd most popular surname in the United States, with 283 people bearing the name. By 2010, this rank had increased to 47,186, marking a considerable rise of nearly 28%. The number of individuals with the surname Jilani also grew by approximately 59% during the same period, from 283 in 2000 to 450 in 2010. As such, for every 100k people in the U.S., there were 0.10 named Jilani in 2000 and 0.15 in 2010, indicating a 50% increase.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#65,492	#47,186	27.95%
Count	283	450	59.01%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.15	50%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Jilani

Regarding ethnic identity, the Jilani surname is predominantly associated with the Asian/Pacific Islander community. The Decennial U.S. Census data shows that in 2000, around 71.38% of Jilanis identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, a figure which rose to 80.22% by 2010, an increase of 12.38%. However, the percentage of those identifying with two or more races saw a significant drop from 13.78% in 2000 to 4.67% in 2010. Similarly, the proportion of white Jilanis decreased slightly from 12.37% to 11.78% over the decade. New categories emerged in 2010, with 1.11% of Jilanis identifying as Hispanic and 2.22% as Black. The percentage of those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native remained constant at 0.00% in both years.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	71.38%	80.22%	12.38%
White	12.37%	11.78%	-4.77%
Two or More Races	13.78%	4.67%	-66.11%
Black	0%	2.22%	0%
Hispanic	0%	1.11%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%