Hamidou
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "praiseworthy".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Hamidou. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hamidou today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hamidou births was 2017 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hamidou. 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 Hamidou with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hamidou. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
2017
9 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,916
Tracked since 2002
Census
Hamidou in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Hamidou, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hamidou
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamidou is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Hamidou 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 Hamidou at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.2% · 262
- White3.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 4
- Two or more races0.7% · 2
Popularity
Hamidou: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hamidou 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 36 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Hamidou remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hamidou 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 Hamidou 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 Hamidou
Hamidou is a masculine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the root "hamd" which means "praise" or "to praise." The name is commonly found in various regions of North Africa and West Africa, particularly among Muslim communities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hamidou can be traced back to the 7th century during the Islamic Golden Age. It was a popular name among scholars, poets, and religious figures during this period, reflecting the cultural and intellectual flourishing of the Islamic world.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Hamidou was Hamidou Kane, a Senegalese writer and former diplomat who lived from 1928 to 1988. His novel "L'Aventure Ambiguë" (Ambiguous Adventure) is considered a masterpiece of African literature and explores the themes of cultural identity and the clash between traditional and Western values.
Another significant figure was Hamidou Diallo, a Guinean politician and diplomat who served as the President of Guinea from 1958 to 1984. He played a crucial role in Guinea's independence movement and later shaped the country's post-colonial policies.
In the realm of sports, Hamidou Msaidie was a Moroccan footballer who played as a midfielder for various clubs in Morocco and France during the 1990s and early 2000s. He represented the Moroccan national team and participated in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Hamidou Benmessaoud was an Algerian singer and composer known for his contributions to the Rai music genre. Born in 1952, he gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, blending traditional Algerian folk music with contemporary styles.
Hamidou Soumaré was a Malian diplomat and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Mali from 1957 to 1959. He played a significant role in Mali's transition to independence and was influential in shaping the country's early political landscape.
While the name Hamidou has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended religious and geographical boundaries, becoming a widely recognized name across various regions and ethnicities.
People
Hamidou + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hamidou 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
Hamidou: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hamidou?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hamidou 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Hamidou a common name?
We classify Hamidou as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hamidou most popular?
The single biggest year for Hamidou was 2017, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hamidou is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hamidou in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Hamidou, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Hamidou 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 Hamidou?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hamidou appears almost entirely male. Of the 275 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 Hamidou?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamidou is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.4%). 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 Hamidou most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Hamidou in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (262 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 Hamidou in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hamidou a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hamidou 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 Hamidou still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hamidou 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 Hamidou 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 the name Hamidou?
See how many Americans are named Hamidou on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.