Abdoul
Abdoul is an Arabic masculine name meaning "servant of God".
Name Census estimates that about 563 living Americans carry the first name Abdoul. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abdoul today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abdoul births was 2003 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abdoul. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Abdoul with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
563
~ 1 in 608,800 Americans
Peak year
2003
31 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,870
Tracked since 1992
Census
Abdoul in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,092 people with the first name Abdoul, which placed it at #11,658 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,658
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,092 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abdoul
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abdoul is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Abdoul described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Abdoul at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.8% · 1,013
- White3.8% · 42
- Two or more races1.6% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Abdoul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abdoul from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 209 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Abdoul remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abdoul by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Abdoul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abdouls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abdoul
The name Abdoul is a variant of the Arabic name Abdul, which is derived from the Arabic word "Abd" meaning "servant" or "slave." This name has its origins in the Middle Eastern region, specifically in the Arabic-speaking countries. The name is closely associated with the Islamic faith and culture.
The name Abdoul is often combined with one of the 99 names of Allah in Islam, such as Abdul Rahman (servant of the Merciful) or Abdul Malik (servant of the King). This practice of combining the name with a divine attribute has been prevalent since the early days of Islam and can be traced back to the 7th century.
In ancient Islamic texts and scriptures, the name Abdul is mentioned in various contexts, often referring to individuals who were devoted to their faith and had a close relationship with Allah. One notable example is Abdullah bin Masud, a companion of Prophet Muhammad who was known for his knowledge of the Quran and his contributions to the preservation of Islamic teachings.
The earliest recorded use of the name Abdoul can be found in historical records from the medieval period, particularly in regions that were under Islamic rule or influence. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Abdoul Qadir Gilani, a Persian Sufi saint and scholar who lived in the 12th century (1077-1166). He founded the Qadiri Sufi order and is revered for his spiritual teachings and contributions to Islamic mysticism.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Abdoul, including:
1. Abdoul Ahad, a 17th-century Indian poet and scholar known for his works in Persian and Urdu languages.
2. Abdoul Karim al-Jili, a 15th-century Sufi philosopher and mystic from Yemen, known for his influential work "Al-Insān al-Kāmil" (The Perfect Man).
3. Abdoul Qadir Al-Jazairi, a 19th-century Algerian scholar and leader of the resistance against French colonial rule (1808-1883).
4. Abdoul Aziz bin Baz, a prominent Saudi Arabian scholar and former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia (1910-1999).
5. Abdoul Majid Zamakhshari, an 11th-century Persian scholar and linguist, best known for his commentary on the Quran and contributions to Arabic lexicography.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Abdoul, illustrating its deep roots and significance within the Islamic tradition and culture.
People
Abdoul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abdoul as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abdoul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abdoul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 563 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abdoul going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 608,800 US residents.
Is Abdoul a common name?
We classify Abdoul as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 569 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abdoul most popular?
The single biggest year for Abdoul was 2003, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abdoul is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abdoul in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,092 people with the name Abdoul, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,658 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Abdoul in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Abdoul?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abdoul appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,095 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Abdoul?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abdoul is Black at 92.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Abdoul most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Abdoul in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (1,013 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Abdoul in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abdoul a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abdoul in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Abdoul still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abdoul in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Abdoul can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Abdoul?
Want to know how many people share the name Abdoul? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.