Kemal
A Turkish name that carries the sense of perfection and maturity, less the polish of a finished object than a person grown fully into himself. In Poland it stays rare and goes only to boys, so most Poles have never met one.
Kemal Pronunciation
Kemal is pronounced KE-mahl (/ˈkɛmal/).
What Kemal means
Where Kemal comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kemal is a Turkish name, and the meaning attached to it is perfection and maturity, doskonałość and dojrzałość for a Polish reader. That pairing points less to the polish of a finished object and more to a person who has grown fully into himself.
The most famous bearer gives the name its public face. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern Turkish republic, carried Kemal as an added name; by one common account it was given to him at a military school for his ability in mathematics. It stayed with him for good. In Turkey the name stayed popular long after him.
For a Polish child, Kemal is rare. It might appear once on a school register in a class of Kacpers and Kamils. Its meaning, perfection and maturity, sets a high mark, and the name wears that meaning openly, since Kemal keeps no common diminutive or Polish variant to shorten it.
How many people are named Kemal
1 in 87127 men in Poland is named Kemal. 245 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1973 among male names.
Kemal's popularity over time
2 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1640 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2021.
Where Kemal is most popular
Kemal is most popular in Greater Poland, 904% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).
-
Greater Poland2 boys born+904%
Kemal as a middle name
Kemal is a first name for 245 men in Poland and a middle name for another 90, a 73/27 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 758th, between Horacy (90) and Logan (90).
-
#756 Christof90
-
#757 Horacy90
-
#758 Kemal90
-
#759 Logan90
-
#760 Lothar90