Faatimah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "the weaned one".
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the first name Faatimah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Faatimah today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Faatimah births was 1991 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Faatimah. 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 Faatimah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
133
~ 1 in 2,577,100 Americans
Peak year
1991
12 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,016
Tracked since 1989
Census
Faatimah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 159 people with the first name Faatimah, which placed it at #43,953 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
#43,953
National first-name rank
People counted
159
159 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Faatimah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faatimah is Black at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%) and Hispanic (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 Faatimah 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 Faatimah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.9% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.9% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 10
- Two or more races5.7% · 9
- White5.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
Popularity
Faatimah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Faatimah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 53 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Faatimah 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 Faatimah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Faatimahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Faatimah
The given name Faatimah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "fatama," which means "to wean" or "to be weaned." The name was prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula during the 7th century CE.
Faatimah is a name deeply rooted in Islamic history and tradition. It is the name of one of the daughters of the Prophet Muhammad, who is revered as a significant figure in Islam. Faatimah bint Muhammad, also known as Fatimah al-Zahra, was born in Mecca around 615 CE and is considered one of the most influential women in Islamic history.
The name Faatimah holds great importance in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. It is mentioned in several verses, often in reference to the Prophet Muhammad's daughter. Additionally, the name appears in various hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and other Islamic literature, highlighting its significance in the Islamic faith.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Faatimah can be found in the biographical accounts and historical records of the early Islamic era. Faatimah bint Muhammad, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, is widely recognized as the first person to bear this name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Faatimah. Among them are:
1. Fatimah bint al-Hasan (born c. 695 CE), a prominent Islamic scholar and descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
2. Fatimah al-Fihri (born c. 800 CE), a Muslim woman credited with founding the world's oldest continuously operating university, Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco.
3. Fatimah al-Batayhi (born c. 1188 CE), a Syrian poet and writer known for her contributions to Arabic literature.
4. Fatimah Begum (1592-1639 CE), a powerful Mughal empress and the chief wife of Emperor Jahangir in India.
5. Fatimah Mernissi (1940-2015 CE), a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist who wrote extensively on women's rights and Islam.
The name Faatimah has held significant cultural and religious importance across various regions and eras, particularly in the Arab and Islamic world. Its rich history and connection to influential figures have made it a name revered and cherished by many.
People
Faatimah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Faatimah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Faatimah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Faatimah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Faatimah 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 2,577,100 US residents.
Is Faatimah a common name?
We classify Faatimah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 136 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Faatimah most popular?
The single biggest year for Faatimah was 1991, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Faatimah is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Faatimah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 159 people with the name Faatimah, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,953 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 Faatimah 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 Faatimah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Faatimah leans strongly female. 158 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Faatimah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Faatimah is Black at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%) and Hispanic (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 Faatimah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Faatimah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.9% (100 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 Faatimah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Faatimah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Faatimah in the SSA data are female. 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 Faatimah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Faatimah 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 Faatimah 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 called Faatimah?
Want to know how many Americans are named Faatimah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.