Kadir
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "powerful", "mighty" or "capable".
Name Census estimates that about 503 living Americans carry the first name Kadir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kadir today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kadir births was 2019 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kadir. 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 Kadir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
503
~ 1 in 681,420 Americans
Peak year
2019
37 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,289
Tracked since 1992
Census
Kadir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 732 people with the first name Kadir, which placed it at #15,649 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
#15,649
National first-name rank
People counted
732
732 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kadir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kadir is White at 40.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.7%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Kadir 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 Kadir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.8% · 299
- Black or African American32.7% · 239
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 49
- Two or more races4.8% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Kadir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kadir 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 211 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kadir remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kadir 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 Kadir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kadirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Kadir, while Ohio, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kadir
The name Kadir has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, and it can be traced back to the early days of Islam. The name is derived from the Arabic word "qadir," which means "powerful" or "able." It is believed to have been used as a name since the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the early Islamic caliphates.
In Islamic tradition, one of the names of God is Al-Qadir, which means "The All-Powerful" or "The Omnipotent." This name is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and it is considered a strong and meaningful name for Muslims.
The earliest recorded example of the name Kadir can be found in the historical records of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, which ruled over large parts of the Middle East and North Africa between the 7th and 13th centuries CE. During this time, several notable figures bore the name Kadir, including scholars, poets, and military leaders.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Kadir was Kadir Gilani, a renowned Sufi saint and founder of the Qadiri order of Sufism. He lived in Baghdad, Iraq, in the 12th century CE (1077-1166 CE) and was known for his teachings on spiritual purification and devotion to God.
Another notable figure was Kadir Khan, a Mughal military commander and governor of Kashmir during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century CE (1624-1689 CE). He played a significant role in the Mughal conquest of Kashmir and the expansion of the Mughal Empire in the region.
In the 19th century, Kadir Ali Bey (1834-1894 CE) was a Turkish writer, translator, and diplomat who served as the Ottoman ambassador to several European countries. He was instrumental in introducing Western literature and ideas to the Ottoman Empire and played a crucial role in the reform movements of the time.
In more recent history, Kadir Misiroğlu (1933-2019 CE) was a prominent Turkish writer, historian, and journalist who authored numerous books on Turkish history and culture. His works were widely read and influential in promoting a better understanding of Turkey's past.
Kadir Nurman (1905-1959 CE) was an Indonesian poet and author who played a significant role in the development of modern Indonesian literature. He was known for his poems that expressed the struggle for independence and the aspirations of the Indonesian people.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Kadir throughout history, reflecting its deep roots in various cultures and its association with strength, power, and religious significance.
People
Kadir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kadir as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kadir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kadir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 503 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kadir 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 681,420 US residents.
Is Kadir a common name?
We classify Kadir as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kadir most popular?
The single biggest year for Kadir was 2019, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kadir 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 Kadir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 732 people with the name Kadir, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,649 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 Kadir 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 Kadir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kadir appears almost entirely male. Of the 727 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Kadir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kadir is White at 40.8%. The next largest groups are Black (32.7%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Kadir most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kadir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.8% (299 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 Kadir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kadir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kadir 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 Kadir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kadir 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 Kadir 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 Americans are named Kadir?
See how many people have the name Kadir on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.