Fahim
Of Arabic origin, meaning "intuitive", "comprehending", or "having insight".
Name Census estimates that about 458 living Americans carry the first name Fahim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fahim today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fahim births was 1997 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fahim. 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 Fahim with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
458
~ 1 in 748,372 Americans
Peak year
1997
25 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,322
Tracked since 1982
Census
Fahim in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,198 people with the first name Fahim, which placed it at #10,916 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
#10,916
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fahim
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fahim is Asian/Pacific Islander at 71.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.7%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Fahim 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 Fahim at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander71.3% · 854
- White12.7% · 152
- Black or African American8.7% · 104
- Two or more races6.4% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Fahim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fahim 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 191 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fahim 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 Fahim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fahims live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Virginia recorded the most babies named Fahim, while Virginia, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fahim
The name Fahim has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, originating from the word "fahm" which means "understanding" or "comprehension." This name gained prominence during the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th century CE.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fahim can be traced back to the 9th century CE, when it was mentioned in various Arabic literary works and historical records. One notable figure who bore this name was Fahim al-Mufid, a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian who lived in Najaf, Iraq, from 948 to 1022 CE. He was widely respected for his contributions to Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy.
In the 11th century CE, Fahim al-Baladhuri, an Arabic historian and author, wrote extensively about the early Islamic conquests and the lives of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. His work, "Futuh al-Buldan" (The Conquests of the Lands), is considered a valuable source of historical information.
Another prominent figure with the name Fahim was Fahim al-Kirmani, who lived in the 12th century CE. He was a Persian poet and philosopher known for his works on Sufism and mysticism. His poetry often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
During the Mamluk period in Egypt and Syria, which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century CE, the name Fahim gained further popularity. One notable figure from this era was Fahim al-Dimashqi, a Syrian scholar and historian who wrote extensively on the history and culture of Damascus.
In more recent times, Fahim Anwar was a Pakistani cricketer who played for the national team in the 1970s and 1980s. He was known for his exceptional batting skills and his contributions to the sport in Pakistan.
While the name Fahim has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has since been adopted by various communities around the world, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries. Its meaning of "understanding" and "comprehension" has resonated with people across different backgrounds, making it a name with a rich historical significance.
People
Fahim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fahim 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
Fahim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fahim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 458 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fahim 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 748,372 US residents.
Is Fahim a common name?
We classify Fahim as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fahim most popular?
The single biggest year for Fahim was 1997, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fahim is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fahim in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,198 people with the name Fahim, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,916 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 Fahim 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 Fahim?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fahim leans strongly male. 1,167 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 35 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Fahim?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fahim is Asian/Pacific Islander at 71.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.7%) and Black (8.7%). 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 Fahim most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Fahim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (854 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 Fahim in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fahim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fahim 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 Fahim still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fahim 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 Fahim 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 Fahim?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Fahim at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.