Hossein
A masculine Arabic name meaning "beautiful" or "little handsome one".
Name Census estimates that about 59 living Americans carry the first name Hossein. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hossein today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hossein births was 1982 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hossein. 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 Hossein with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hossein. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
59
~ 1 in 5,809,396 Americans
Peak year
1982
7 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,383
Tracked since 1975
Census
Hossein in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,533 people with the first name Hossein, which placed it at #6,364 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
#6,364
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,533 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hossein
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hossein is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Hossein 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 Hossein at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 2,172
- Two or more races11.1% · 280
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 20
- Black or African American0.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Hossein: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hossein from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 21 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Hossein remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hossein 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 Hossein 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 Hossein
The name Hossein originates from the Arabic language and culture. It is a variant of the name Husayn, which can be traced back to the 7th century CE. The name is derived from the Arabic word "husn," meaning beauty or goodness.
Historically, the name Hossein holds significant importance in Islamic tradition. It is the name of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet. Hossein played a crucial role in the early days of Islam and is revered as a martyr by Shia Muslims.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Hossein can be found in the Qur'an, where it is mentioned in reference to Hossein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. The name also appears in various Islamic texts and historical accounts, such as the Nahj al-Balagha, a collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hossein. One of the most famous was Hossein ibn Ali (626-680 CE), the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was martyred in the Battle of Karbala. Another prominent figure was Hossein Bayqara (1438-1506 CE), a Timurid ruler and poet from present-day Uzbekistan.
Hossein Kazemzadeh Iranshahri (1884-1962) was an Iranian statesman and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Iran from 1940 to 1941. Hossein Khosrow Panah (1913-1951) was an Iranian poet and author known for his contributions to Persian literature.
Hossein Meraat (1923-1987) was an Iranian film director and screenwriter who played a significant role in the development of Iranian cinema. Hossein Mokhtari (1928-2018) was an Iranian painter and calligrapher renowned for his depictions of Islamic art and architecture.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Hossein, illustrating its deep roots and significance in Arabic and Islamic culture.
People
Hossein + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hossein 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
Hossein: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hossein?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 59 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hossein 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 5,809,396 US residents.
Is Hossein a common name?
We classify Hossein as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hossein most popular?
The single biggest year for Hossein was 1982, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hossein is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hossein in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,533 people with the name Hossein, or 0.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,364 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 Hossein 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 Hossein?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hossein appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,531 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Hossein?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hossein is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Hossein most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hossein in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (2,172 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 Hossein in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hossein a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hossein 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 Hossein still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hossein 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 Hossein 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 common is the name Hossein?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Hossein on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.