Arshad
Of Arabic origin, meaning "rightly guided" or "righteous".
Name Census estimates that about 292 living Americans carry the first name Arshad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arshad today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arshad births was 2002 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arshad. 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 Arshad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
292
~ 1 in 1,173,816 Americans
Peak year
2002
17 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,192
Tracked since 1977
Census
Arshad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,261 people with the first name Arshad, which placed it at #10,526 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
#10,526
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arshad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arshad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and White (6.3%). 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 Arshad 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 Arshad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander82.2% · 1,036
- Black or African American7.8% · 98
- White6.3% · 80
- Two or more races2.8% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Arshad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arshad from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 91 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Arshad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arshad 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 Arshad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arshad
The name Arshad has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "rashada," which means "guidance" or "righteousness." The name first appeared during the early days of Islam, around the 7th century CE.
Arshad was a name given to individuals who were believed to possess qualities of wisdom, integrity, and leadership. In Islamic tradition, Arshad is considered a virtuous name, often associated with those who guide others towards the path of righteousness and truth.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Arshad can be found in the historical records of the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled over a vast area of the Middle East and North Africa from the 7th to the 8th century CE. During this period, several prominent figures bore the name Arshad, serving as scholars, judges, and advisors to the caliphs.
Throughout history, the name Arshad has been carried by numerous notable individuals. One such figure was Arshad al-Kindi, a renowned Arab philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 9th century CE. He made significant contributions to the fields of optics and metaphysics, and his works were widely studied in the Islamic world.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Arshad al-Dawla, a powerful ruler of the Buwayhid dynasty, who governed parts of present-day Iran and Iraq during the 10th and 11th centuries CE. He was known for his patronage of arts, literature, and sciences, and his court attracted many scholars and intellectuals.
In the 12th century CE, Arshad al-Din, a renowned Persian poet and mystic, gained recognition for his profound spiritual poetry and his contributions to the Sufi tradition. His works continue to be celebrated and studied by scholars and literary enthusiasts alike.
More recently, Arshad Khan, a Pakistani-British actor and model, gained international fame for his striking appearance and his role in a popular Pakistani television series in the early 2010s.
Another notable figure was Arshad Warsi, an Indian actor known for his comedic roles in Bollywood films. Born in 1968, Warsi has received several accolades for his performances and has become a household name in Indian cinema.
People
Arshad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arshad 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
Arshad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arshad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arshad 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 1,173,816 US residents.
Is Arshad a common name?
We classify Arshad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arshad most popular?
The single biggest year for Arshad was 2002, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arshad is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arshad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,261 people with the name Arshad, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,526 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 Arshad 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 Arshad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arshad leans strongly male. 1,226 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 40 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Arshad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arshad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.8%) and White (6.3%). 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 Arshad most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Arshad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (1,036 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 Arshad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arshad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arshad 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 Arshad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arshad 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 Arshad 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 Arshad?
Want to know how many people have the name Arshad? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.