Basir
An Arabic name meaning possessor of sight, insightful, or wise.
Name Census estimates that about 175 living Americans carry the first name Basir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Basir today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Basir births was 2001 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Basir. 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 Basir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
175
~ 1 in 1,958,596 Americans
Peak year
2001
11 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,063
Tracked since 1989
Census
Basir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Basir, which placed it at #31,391 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
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Basir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basir is Black at 41.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (34.4%) and Two or More Races (11.0%). 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 Basir 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 Basir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.4% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander34.4% · 94
- Two or more races11.0% · 30
- White9.2% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
Popularity
Basir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Basir from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Basir remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Basir 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 Basir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Basirs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Basir
The name Basir has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, tracing back to the 7th century AD. It is derived from the Arabic word "baseer," which means "insightful" or "having keen vision." This name is often associated with wisdom, perception, and spiritual enlightenment.
The earliest recorded use of the name Basir can be found in the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. It is mentioned in several verses, referring to God's attributes and His ability to see and know all things. Additionally, the name appears in various hadith literature, which records the teachings and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
One of the earliest historical figures known to bear the name Basir was Abu Basir, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century. He is renowned for his bravery and loyalty, having participated in several battles alongside the Prophet.
In the 10th century, Basir al-Khuri was a renowned philosopher and scientist from Persia (modern-day Iran). He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and optics, and his works were widely studied in the Islamic world.
During the 12th century, Basir ibn Sa'd al-Samawʾal was a prominent Jewish philosopher and scholar from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). He is known for his writings on theology, philosophy, and linguistics, and his works had a lasting impact on Jewish intellectual thought.
In the 14th century, Basir al-Din Mahmud Shah was the Sultan of Bengal (modern-day Bangladesh and parts of India) from 1338 to 1349. He is remembered for his patronage of the arts and literature, as well as his efforts in promoting Islamic education and culture.
Another notable figure with the name Basir was Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib Basir, a renowned Urdu and Persian poet who lived in the 19th century (1797-1869). He is considered one of the most influential poets in the Urdu language and his works are widely studied and celebrated in South Asia.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Basir, demonstrating its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods, particularly in the Islamic world and regions influenced by Arabic and Persian traditions.
People
Basir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Basir as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Basir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Basir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 175 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Basir 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 1,958,596 US residents.
Is Basir a common name?
We classify Basir as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 177 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Basir most popular?
The single biggest year for Basir was 2001, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Basir is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Basir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Basir, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 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 Basir 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 Basir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Basir appears almost entirely male. Of the 275 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Basir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basir is Black at 41.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (34.4%) and Two or More Races (11.0%). 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 Basir most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Basir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.4% (113 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 Basir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Basir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Basir 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 Basir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Basir 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 Basir 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 Americans are named Basir?
See how many people have the name Basir on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.