Jihad
An Arabic name meaning striving or struggling for a noble cause.
Name Census estimates that about 1,993 living Americans carry the first name Jihad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jihad today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jihad births was 2000 (96 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jihad. 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 Jihad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 171,979 Americans
Peak year
2000
96 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,617
Tracked since 1969
Census
Jihad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,073 people with the first name Jihad, which placed it at #7,379 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
#7,379
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,073 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jihad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jihad is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (39.5%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Jihad 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 Jihad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.3% · 1,043
- White39.5% · 819
- Two or more races4.9% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 73
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Jihad
Out of the 2,040 babies given the name Jihad since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Jihad as a male name
- Ranked #4,617 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (96 births)
Jihad as a female name
- Ranked #14,445 in 1993
- 5 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1993 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jihad leans strongly male. 1,945 people counted with this name were male (94.0%), compared with 125 female bearers (6.0%).
Popularity
Jihad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jihad from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 685 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jihad 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 Jihad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jihads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Jihad, while Georgia, District of Columbia, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 85 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jihad
The name Jihad has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "jahada," which means "to strive" or "to struggle." The name gained prominence during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest known references to the name Jihad can be found in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. The term "jihad" is mentioned multiple times in the Quran, often referring to the spiritual and moral struggle against one's own desires and temptations, as well as the struggle to defend and spread the faith.
In the historical context, the name Jihad was given to individuals who were known for their efforts and sacrifices in defending and promoting the Islamic faith. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Jihad ibn Qays, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century AD.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jihad. One such person was Jihad al-Binbashi, an 18th-century Ottoman military leader who led Ottoman forces against the Russian Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. Another notable figure was Jihad al-Khazen, a 19th-century Lebanese writer and intellectual who played a significant role in the Arab literary renaissance.
In the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the name Jihad was Jihad Mu'adh, a Palestinian writer and poet who was born in 1932 and died in 2002. His works focused on themes of resistance and struggle against occupation.
Another notable figure was Jihad al-Husseini, a Syrian military officer who served as the Chief of Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces during the 1970s and 1980s. He played a significant role in the Syrian intervention in the Lebanese Civil War.
While the name Jihad has a rich historical and cultural significance, it is important to note that its meaning and interpretation have been subject to debate and controversy in modern times, particularly in the context of extremist ideologies and terrorism.
People
Jihad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jihad as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jihad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jihad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,993 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jihad 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 171,979 US residents.
Is Jihad a common name?
We classify Jihad as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jihad most popular?
The single biggest year for Jihad was 2000, when 96 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jihad is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jihad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,073 people with the name Jihad, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,379 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 Jihad 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 Jihad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jihad leans strongly male. 1,945 people counted with this name were male (94.0%), compared with 125 female bearers (6.0%). 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 Jihad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jihad is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (39.5%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Jihad most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jihad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (1,043 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 Jihad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jihad a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Jihad 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 Jihad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jihad 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 Jihad 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 Jihad?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.