Fatumata
Of Arabic origin, meaning "one who abstains".
Name Census estimates that about 223 living Americans carry the first name Fatumata. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fatumata today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fatumata births was 2004 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fatumata. 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 Fatumata with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
223
~ 1 in 1,537,015 Americans
Peak year
2004
13 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,979
Tracked since 1992
Census
Fatumata in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 317 people with the first name Fatumata, which placed it at #28,376 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
#28,376
National first-name rank
People counted
317
317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fatumata
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatumata is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Fatumata 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 Fatumata at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.6% · 300
- Two or more races2.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
- White0.6% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Fatumata: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fatumata from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 80 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Fatumata remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fatumata 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 Fatumata during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fatumatas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fatumata
The given name Fatumata is primarily of West African origin, derived from the Arabic name Fatima. It is believed to have emerged as a variant of Fatima among speakers of the Mande language family, which includes Bambara, Malinke, and Maninka languages spoken in Mali, Guinea, and surrounding regions.
The name Fatima itself is rooted in the Arabic word "fatama," meaning "to wean" or "to stop breastfeeding." It was the name given to one of the daughters of the Prophet Muhammad, revered as a prominent figure in Islamic history. Fatima's name carried symbolic significance, representing purity, devotion, and spiritual nourishment.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Fatumata can be traced back to the medieval period in West Africa, particularly among the influential empires of the region, such as the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire. These empires played a crucial role in the spread of Islam across West Africa, and the name Fatumata became a popular choice among Muslim families.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Fatumata was Fatumata Bint al-Abbas, a renowned scholar and poet from the 12th century. She was born in the city of Timbuktu, a prominent center of learning and scholarship during the Golden Age of the Mali Empire. Fatumata Bint al-Abbas was renowned for her contributions to Islamic literature and her poetry, which celebrated the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
Another notable figure was Fatumata Diarra, a powerful ruler of the Bambara Empire in the 17th century. She was known for her strategic leadership and her efforts to strengthen the empire's influence in the region. Fatumata Diarra's reign marked a period of cultural and economic prosperity for the Bambara people.
In the 18th century, Fatumata Massaquoi was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Koya, located in present-day Sierra Leone. She was renowned for her diplomatic skills and her efforts to promote peaceful relations between the kingdom and neighboring territories.
Moving forward, Fatumata Touré was a legendary figure in the 19th century, renowned for her role as a military leader and strategist during the Toucouleur Empire's expansion in West Africa. She commanded her own army and played a pivotal role in several battles, earning her the respect and admiration of her people.
In more recent history, Fatumata Diarra Diallo was a prominent scholar and educator from Mali, known for her contributions to the preservation of the country's cultural heritage and her efforts to promote education for women and girls in the 20th century.
People
Fatumata + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fatumata 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
Fatumata: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fatumata?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 223 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fatumata 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 1,537,015 US residents.
Is Fatumata a common name?
We classify Fatumata as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 226 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fatumata most popular?
The single biggest year for Fatumata was 2004, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fatumata is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fatumata in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 317 people with the name Fatumata, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,376 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 Fatumata 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 Fatumata?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fatumata leans strongly female. 306 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 4 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 Fatumata?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatumata is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Fatumata most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fatumata in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (300 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 Fatumata in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fatumata a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fatumata 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 Fatumata still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fatumata 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 Fatumata 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 Americans are named Fatumata?
Find out how many people have the name Fatumata on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.