Hamida
An Arabic feminine name meaning "praiseworthy" or "one who praises."
Name Census estimates that about 89 living Americans carry the first name Hamida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hamida today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hamida births was 2014 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hamida. 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 Hamida with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hamida. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
89
~ 1 in 3,851,172 Americans
Peak year
2014
10 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,101
Tracked since 2000
Census
Hamida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,368 people with the first name Hamida, which placed it at #9,929 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
#9,929
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,368 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
64.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hamida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamida is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Hamida 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 Hamida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander64.0% · 876
- White18.2% · 249
- Black or African American9.6% · 132
- Two or more races7.4% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 10
Popularity
Hamida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hamida from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 42 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hamida remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hamida 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 Hamida 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 Hamida
The name Hamida has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "hamd," which means "praise" or "to praise." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries among Arabic-speaking cultures, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hamida can be found in historical records from the 7th century, during the early years of the Islamic Golden Age. At that time, the name was often given to girls born into affluent or noble families, as it carried connotations of gratitude and reverence.
In Islamic tradition, the name Hamida is sometimes associated with the concept of praising and glorifying God. This association may stem from the fact that the root word "hamd" is frequently used in religious contexts, such as in the opening lines of the Quran, where it is used to express gratitude and praise to the Almighty.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Hamida. One of the earliest recorded examples is Hamida bint al-Husayn (born around 637 CE), who was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and revered for her piety and knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence.
Another prominent figure named Hamida was Hamida al-Zawba'i (born in the late 9th century CE), a renowned poet and scholar from Baghdad who gained recognition for her mastery of Arabic literature and her contributions to the development of the Arabic language.
In the 13th century, Hamida Banu Begum (born around 1245 CE) was a powerful and influential woman in the Delhi Sultanate, known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of impressive architectural marvels, including the iconic Qutub Minar in Delhi.
During the Ottoman Empire, Hamida Sultan (born in 1585 CE) was a prominent figure as the mother of Sultan Ahmed I. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the empire and was influential in shaping the cultural and artistic landscape of the time.
In more recent history, Hamida Habibullah (1916-2008) was a prominent Afghan politician and diplomat who served as the first female member of the Afghan parliament and played a crucial role in advocating for women's rights and education in her country.
Overall, the name Hamida has a rich history rooted in Arabic culture and tradition, with connotations of praise, gratitude, and reverence. It has been borne by notable figures throughout the centuries, each leaving their mark on the cultural, political, and intellectual landscapes of their respective eras.
People
Hamida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hamida 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
Hamida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hamida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 89 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hamida 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 3,851,172 US residents.
Is Hamida a common name?
We classify Hamida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 90 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hamida most popular?
The single biggest year for Hamida was 2014, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hamida is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hamida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,368 people with the name Hamida, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,929 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 Hamida 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 Hamida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hamida leans strongly female. 1,353 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 15 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Hamida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamida is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Hamida most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hamida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.0% (876 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 Hamida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hamida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hamida 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 Hamida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hamida 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 Hamida 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 Hamida?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.