Naheem
An Arabic name meaning "dream" or "sweet dream".
Name Census estimates that about 479 living Americans carry the first name Naheem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Naheem today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naheem births was 2009 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naheem. 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 Naheem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
479
~ 1 in 715,562 Americans
Peak year
2009
24 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,573
Tracked since 1982
Census
Naheem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 327 people with the first name Naheem, which placed it at #27,781 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
#27,781
National first-name rank
People counted
327
327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naheem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naheem is Black at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Naheem 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 Naheem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.3% · 266
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 13
- Two or more races3.4% · 11
- White3.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Naheem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naheem from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 155 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Naheem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Naheem 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 Naheem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Naheems live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Naheem, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Naheem
The given name Naheem is believed to have originated from the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "naim," which means "pleasant" or "delightful." The name has been in use for centuries within Arabic-speaking communities and regions where Islamic culture has had a significant influence.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Naheem can be found in ancient Islamic texts and manuscripts dating back to the 8th century. During this time, the name was often given to male children as a way to express the hope for a pleasant and delightful life for the child.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Naheem. One of the earliest recorded examples is Naheem ibn Zayd al-Qurashi, a 9th-century Islamic scholar and jurist from Medina. He was renowned for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and contributed significantly to the development of Islamic legal thought.
In the 11th century, Naheem al-Farabi was a renowned philosopher, scientist, and mathematician from Central Asia. He made significant contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and political philosophy, and his works had a lasting impact on the intellectual traditions of the Islamic world.
Another prominent figure was Naheem al-Ghazali, a 12th-century Persian philosopher, theologian, and mystic. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Islamic thought and played a crucial role in reconciling Islamic theology with Greek philosophy.
During the 14th century, Naheem al-Muqaddasi was a renowned Islamic geographer and traveler. His work, "The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions," is considered one of the most important works on medieval Islamic geography and provides valuable insights into the cultural and social landscape of the time.
In the 16th century, Naheem al-Jazari was a renowned engineer and inventor from present-day Turkey. He is best known for his significant contributions to the field of mechanical engineering, particularly his innovative designs for water clocks and other intricate mechanical devices.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have borne the name Naheem throughout history, each contributing significantly to their respective fields and leaving a lasting legacy within the cultural and intellectual traditions of the Islamic world.
People
Naheem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naheem as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Naheem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naheem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 479 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naheem 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 715,562 US residents.
Is Naheem a common name?
We classify Naheem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naheem most popular?
The single biggest year for Naheem was 2009, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naheem is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Naheem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 327 people with the name Naheem, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,781 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 Naheem 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 Naheem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naheem leans strongly male. 324 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Naheem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naheem is Black at 81.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Naheem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Naheem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.3% (266 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 Naheem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naheem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Naheem 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 Naheem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naheem 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 Naheem 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 Naheem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.