Fahad
A masculine Arabic name derived from 'fahd' meaning 'panther' or 'courageous'.
Name Census estimates that about 1,533 living Americans carry the first name Fahad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fahad today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fahad births was 2024 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fahad. 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 Fahad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 223,584 Americans
Peak year
2024
73 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,060
Tracked since 1978
Census
Fahad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,641 people with the first name Fahad, which placed it at #6,148 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
#6,148
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,641 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
55.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fahad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fahad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.5%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Fahad 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 Fahad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander55.8% · 1,473
- White31.5% · 833
- Black or African American6.5% · 171
- Two or more races4.8% · 127
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Fahad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fahad from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 512 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fahad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fahad 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 Fahad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fahads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Fahad, while Washington, Michigan, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fahad
The name Fahad is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "fahd," which means "panther" or "cheetah" in Arabic. It is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the pre-Islamic era, when the nomadic tribes of the region revered these powerful and agile animals for their strength and grace.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Fahad can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when it was mentioned in various Arabic literary works and historical accounts. One notable early bearer of this name was Fahad ibn Ibrahim al-Hashimi, a renowned poet and scholar who lived during the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE).
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Fahad. One of the most prominent was Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1923-2005), the fifth King of Saudi Arabia, who ruled from 1982 to 2005. His reign was marked by significant economic and social reforms, as well as a focus on modernization and development.
Another notable Fahad was Fahad al-Muwaллad (1005-1087), a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer from Seville, Spain, during the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebra, geometry, and astronomy, and his works were widely studied and cited by scholars across the Islamic world.
In the literary realm, Fahad al-Askar (1904-1985) was a prominent Saudi poet and writer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting Arabic literature and culture. His poetry and prose works explored themes of love, patriotism, and the rich heritage of the Arabian Peninsula.
More recently, Fahad Al-Muwallad (1939-2009) was a renowned Saudi actor and director who made a lasting impact on the Arab film industry. He starred in numerous acclaimed movies and television shows, and his performances were widely celebrated for their depth and authenticity.
While the name Fahad is predominantly used in the Arab world, it has also gained popularity in other regions, particularly among Muslim communities. Its association with strength, grace, and cultural heritage has made it a popular choice for parents seeking a name that reflects their traditions and values.
People
Fahad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fahad 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
Fahad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fahad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,533 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fahad 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 223,584 US residents.
Is Fahad a common name?
We classify Fahad as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,557 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fahad most popular?
The single biggest year for Fahad was 2024, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fahad 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 Fahad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,641 people with the name Fahad, or 0.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,148 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 Fahad 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 Fahad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fahad appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,646 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Fahad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fahad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (31.5%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Fahad most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Fahad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (1,473 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 Fahad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fahad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fahad 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 Fahad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fahad 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 Fahad 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 common is the name Fahad?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.