Rasha
An Arabic name meaning "good guidance" or "righteous path".
Name Census estimates that about 693 living Americans carry the first name Rasha. It is a predominantly female name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Rasha today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rasha births was 1992 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rasha. 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 Rasha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
693
~ 1 in 494,595 Americans
Peak year
1992
31 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1996 SSA rank
#10,190
Tracked since 1961
Census
Rasha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,821 people with the first name Rasha, which placed it at #5,878 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
#5,878
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,821 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rasha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasha is White at 79.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Rasha 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 Rasha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.0% · 2,228
- Black or African American12.8% · 362
- Two or more races4.1% · 116
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Rasha
Rasha leans heavily female at 94.9% of total registrations, but 37 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rasha as a male name
- Ranked #10,190 in 1996
- 5 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1977 (6 births)
Rasha as a female name
- Ranked #13,151 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1992 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasha leans strongly female. 2,719 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 99 male bearers (3.5%).
Popularity
Rasha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rasha 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 199 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
Rasha 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 Rasha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Michigan, Illinois recorded the most babies named Rasha, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rasha
The name Rasha has its origins in Arabic, with the word "rasheed" meaning "rightly guided" or "righteous". It is a name that has been used in the Middle Eastern region for centuries, with its earliest known references dating back to the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rasha was a prominent scholar and theologian from Basra, Iraq, who lived in the 8th century AD. He was known for his contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence and his interpretations of the Quran.
In the 10th century, there was a notable poet named Rasha al-Baghdadi, who hailed from Baghdad and was renowned for his lyrical works and mastery of the Arabic language. His poetry was widely celebrated and has been preserved in various anthologies.
During the 12th century, a influential Muslim philosopher and scientist named Rasha al-Din al-Tusi made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and logic. He is credited with establishing one of the earliest modern observatories and his works were widely studied throughout the Islamic world.
In the 14th century, a famous Sufi mystic and spiritual leader named Rasha al-Din al-Simnani was born in Persia. He was known for his teachings on the path of spiritual enlightenment and his works on mysticism continue to be studied by scholars and practitioners of Sufism.
Another notable figure with the name Rasha was a 16th century Ottoman calligrapher and artist named Rasha Efendi, who was renowned for his exceptional calligraphic works and contributions to the art of Islamic calligraphy. His works are considered masterpieces and are preserved in various museums and collections around the world.
While the name Rasha has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions over time, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in various fields throughout history.
People
Rasha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rasha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rasha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rasha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 693 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rasha 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 494,595 US residents.
Is Rasha a common name?
We classify Rasha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 723 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rasha most popular?
The single biggest year for Rasha was 1992, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rasha 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 Rasha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,821 people with the name Rasha, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,878 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 Rasha 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 Rasha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasha leans strongly female. 2,719 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 99 male bearers (3.5%). 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 Rasha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasha is White at 79.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.8%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Rasha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rasha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.0% (2,228 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 Rasha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rasha a female name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Rasha in the SSA data are female. 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 Rasha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rasha 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 Rasha 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 Rasha as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Rasha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.