Fatiha
An Arabic name meaning "the opening" or "the beginning".
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Fatiha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fatiha today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fatiha births was 2022 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fatiha. 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 Fatiha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
2022
37 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,680
Tracked since 1983
Census
Fatiha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 888 people with the first name Fatiha, which placed it at #13,554 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
#13,554
National first-name rank
People counted
888
888 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fatiha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatiha is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.7%) and Black (11.1%). 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 Fatiha 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 Fatiha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.8% · 593
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.7% · 139
- Black or African American11.1% · 99
- Two or more races5.4% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 9
Popularity
Fatiha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fatiha from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 147 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fatiha 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 Fatiha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fatihas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fatiha
The name Fatiha has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "fatihah," which means "the opener" or "the beginning." This name holds significant religious and cultural importance in the Islamic tradition.
Fatiha is the name of the first chapter or sura of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The Surat Al-Fatiha, also known as the "Opening," is a fundamental part of Muslim daily prayers and is recited multiple times during each prayer session. This sura is considered a quintessential summary of the entire Quran and holds a revered place in Islamic teachings.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fatiha dates back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the formation of the Islamic faith. Historical records indicate that some of the companions of the Prophet, both men and women, were given names related to the Surat Al-Fatiha, reflecting the significance of this chapter in the lives of early Muslims.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Fatiha. One such person was Fatiha al-Fihriya (born around 800 CE), a wealthy woman from Qayrawan, modern-day Tunisia, who founded the renowned Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University in Fez, Morocco, in 859 CE. This institution is considered one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world.
Another prominent figure was Fatiha al-Nafzawiyyah (born around 1180 CE), a renowned Sufi mystic and poet from Tunisia. Her poetry and spiritual writings were widely celebrated and influential during her time.
In the 14th century, Fatiha bint al-Abbas (born around 1330 CE) was a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus, Syria. She was known for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the field of Sharia law.
In more recent history, Fatiha El-Ghorri (1935-2019) was a Moroccan writer and journalist who played a significant role in promoting women's rights and literary movements in her country.
Fatiha Boudchar (born 1959) is a contemporary Algerian novelist and filmmaker known for her works exploring themes of identity, gender, and societal issues in the Arab world.
The name Fatiha continues to be popular in various parts of the Muslim world, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, as it carries a deep religious and cultural significance within the Islamic tradition.
People
Fatiha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fatiha 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
Fatiha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fatiha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fatiha 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 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Fatiha a common name?
We classify Fatiha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fatiha most popular?
The single biggest year for Fatiha was 2022, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fatiha is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fatiha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 888 people with the name Fatiha, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,554 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 Fatiha 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 Fatiha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fatiha leans strongly female. 884 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Fatiha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatiha is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.7%) and Black (11.1%). 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 Fatiha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fatiha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.8% (593 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 Fatiha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fatiha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fatiha 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 Fatiha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fatiha 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 Fatiha 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 Fatiha?
You can see how many people have the name Fatiha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.