Fathia
A feminine Arabic name meaning "she who glows" or "shining".
Name Census estimates that about 39 living Americans carry the first name Fathia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fathia today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fathia births was 2004 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fathia. 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 Fathia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fathia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
39
~ 1 in 8,788,573 Americans
Peak year
2004
7 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,096
Tracked since 2000
Census
Fathia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 508 people with the first name Fathia, which placed it at #20,360 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
#20,360
National first-name rank
People counted
508
508 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fathia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fathia is Black at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (43.9%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Fathia 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 Fathia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.4% · 256
- White43.9% · 223
- Two or more races3.7% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 5
Popularity
Fathia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fathia from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 30 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
Fathia 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 Fathia 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 Fathia
The name Fathia has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is a feminine given name derived from the Arabic word "fath," which means "victory" or "conquest." The name is believed to have originated during the early Islamic era, possibly around the 7th or 8th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fathia can be found in the text of the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. In the Qur'an, the word "fath" is used to refer to victories and conquests, both in a spiritual and military sense. This association with the concept of victory likely contributed to the name's meaning and popularity within the Islamic world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Fathia. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Fathia bint al-Husayn (born around 630 CE), a granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known for her piety and devotion to Islam and is revered by Muslims as a member of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of the Prophet.
Another prominent figure was Fathia al-Bayhaqi (born around 1050 CE), a Persian scholar and poet from the Seljuk Empire. She was renowned for her expertise in various fields, including literature, philosophy, and Islamic jurisprudence. Her works, which included poetry and scholarly treatises, were highly influential during her time.
In more recent history, Fathia Nkrumah (1932-1968) was a prominent Egyptian-Ghanaian activist and the wife of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of independent Ghana. She played a significant role in the Ghanaian independence movement and was actively involved in promoting pan-Africanism and women's rights.
Fathia Fuad El-Nawawy (1924-2015) was an Egyptian feminist and activist who fought for women's rights and gender equality in Egypt. She founded several organizations dedicated to empowering women and improving their legal and social status in the country.
Another notable figure was Fathia Bint Mubarak Al Nahyan (born 1964), a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates. She has been involved in various philanthropic and charitable endeavors, particularly in the areas of education and healthcare.
The name Fathia continues to be popular in many Arabic-speaking countries and among Muslim communities around the world. Its rich history and association with victory and triumph have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance within the Islamic tradition.
People
Fathia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fathia 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
Fathia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fathia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fathia 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 8,788,573 US residents.
Is Fathia a common name?
We classify Fathia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fathia most popular?
The single biggest year for Fathia was 2004, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fathia 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 Fathia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 508 people with the name Fathia, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,360 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 Fathia 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 Fathia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fathia appears almost entirely female. Of the 511 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Fathia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fathia is Black at 50.4%. The next largest groups are White (43.9%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Fathia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fathia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (256 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 Fathia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fathia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fathia 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 Fathia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fathia 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 Fathia 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 have Fathia as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Fathia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.