Hamad
An Arabic masculine name meaning "praised" or "praiseworthy".
Name Census estimates that about 498 living Americans carry the first name Hamad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hamad today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hamad births was 2014 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hamad. 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 Hamad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
498
~ 1 in 688,262 Americans
Peak year
2014
33 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,981
Tracked since 1990
Census
Hamad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 761 people with the first name Hamad, which placed it at #15,191 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
#15,191
National first-name rank
People counted
761
761 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hamad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamad is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.1%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Hamad 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 Hamad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.0% · 396
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.1% · 214
- Black or African American9.5% · 72
- Two or more races7.8% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Hamad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hamad from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 224 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hamad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hamad 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 Hamad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hamads live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hamad
The name Hamad is of Arabic origin, and its roots can be traced back to the ancient Semitic languages. It is derived from the Arabic word "hamd," which means "praise" or "laudation." This name gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa regions during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD.
In Islamic tradition, the name Hamad is closely associated with the concept of praising and glorifying God. It is believed that the name was inspired by the words found in the Quran, which encourage believers to engage in acts of praise and gratitude towards the Creator.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hamad can be found in historical texts and records from the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled large parts of the Middle East and North Africa between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this period, the name was borne by several notable figures, including scholars, poets, and military leaders.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Hamad was Hamad ibn Ismail al-Jawhari, a renowned Arabic lexicographer and philologist who lived in the 10th century. He is best known for his monumental work, "Al-Sihah fi al-Lughah" (The Correct in Language), which is considered one of the most authoritative Arabic dictionaries of all time.
Another prominent figure was Hamad ibn Muhammad al-Katib, a renowned Arab poet and calligrapher who lived in the 11th century. His poetic works were widely celebrated for their beauty and eloquence, and he was considered a master of the Arabic language.
In the 12th century, Hamad ibn Abi al-Asakir al-Dimashqi was a renowned historian and scholar from Damascus. He authored several important works on Islamic history, including "Tarikh Madinat Dimashq" (The History of the City of Damascus), which is considered a significant source for understanding the history and culture of the region.
During the Ottoman Empire, which ruled large parts of the Middle East and North Africa from the 14th to the early 20th century, the name Hamad was borne by several influential figures. One notable example was Hamad Pasha, a governor of Tripoli (present-day Libya) in the 18th century, who played a significant role in the region's affairs during his time.
In more recent history, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the former Emir of Qatar, held this name. He ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013 and oversaw significant economic and social reforms in the country during his reign.
Throughout its long history, the name Hamad has carried a deep connection to the Arabic language, Islamic culture, and the concept of praising and glorifying the divine. Its enduring popularity across various regions and time periods reflects its profound meaning and significance within the Arab and Islamic worlds.
People
Hamad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hamad as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hamad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hamad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 498 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hamad 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 688,262 US residents.
Is Hamad a common name?
We classify Hamad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 504 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hamad most popular?
The single biggest year for Hamad was 2014, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hamad is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hamad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 761 people with the name Hamad, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,191 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 Hamad 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 Hamad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hamad appears almost entirely male. Of the 761 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Hamad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamad is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.1%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Hamad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hamad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.0% (396 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 Hamad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hamad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hamad 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 Hamad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hamad 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 Hamad 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 Hamad?
You can see how many Americans are named Hamad on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.