Rasheda
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "rightly guided" or "mature".
Name Census estimates that about 926 living Americans carry the first name Rasheda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rasheda today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rasheda births was 1976 (107 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rasheda. 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 Rasheda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
926
~ 1 in 370,145 Americans
Peak year
1976
107 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2001 SSA rank
#14,904
Tracked since 1970
Census
Rasheda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 987 people with the first name Rasheda, which placed it at #12,562 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
#12,562
National first-name rank
People counted
987
987 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rasheda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasheda is Black at 71.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Rasheda 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 Rasheda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.9% · 710
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.7% · 194
- Two or more races3.7% · 37
- White3.0% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Rasheda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rasheda from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 450 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rasheda 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 Rasheda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashedas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Rasheda, while Mississippi, Louisiana, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rasheda
The name Rasheda has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "rashid," which means "rightly guided" or "following the right path." This name is deeply rooted in Islamic religious and cultural traditions.
Rasheda gained prominence during the early years of Islam, around the 7th century CE. It was often given to children as a wish for them to be guided by the teachings of Islam and to lead a righteous life. The name is mentioned in several religious texts and historical records from the Middle East and North Africa regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rasheda can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and historian, Al-Tabari (838-923 CE). He documented the life of a woman named Rasheda bint Abi Bakr, who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a respected figure in early Islamic history.
Throughout the centuries, the name Rasheda has been carried by notable figures across various fields. One such individual was Rasheda Begum (1592-1623 CE), a Mughal princess and the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her contributions to the cultural heritage of the Mughal Empire.
In more recent times, Rasheda Khan (1928-2015) was a prominent Bangladeshi writer and activist. She played a significant role in the Bengali language movement and the struggle for Bangladesh's independence. Her literary works, including novels and short stories, explored social and political issues and earned her numerous accolades.
Another notable figure with the name Rasheda was Rasheda Ali (1949-2017), an American writer, and activist. She was the daughter of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and worked tirelessly to promote social justice and civil rights causes throughout her life.
Rasheda Huq (born 1965) is a British politician and member of the Labour Party. She has served as a Member of Parliament for Ealing Central and Acton since 2015 and has been a vocal advocate for various social and environmental issues.
The name Rasheda has transcended geographical boundaries and has been embraced by diverse cultures and communities around the world. While its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language, it has become a part of the global tapestry of names, carrying with it the essence of guidance and righteousness.
People
Rasheda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rasheda 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
Rasheda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rasheda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 926 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rasheda 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 370,145 US residents.
Is Rasheda a common name?
We classify Rasheda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 994 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rasheda most popular?
The single biggest year for Rasheda was 1976, when 107 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rasheda is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rasheda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 987 people with the name Rasheda, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,562 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 Rasheda 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 Rasheda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasheda appears almost entirely female. Of the 984 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Rasheda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasheda is Black at 71.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.7%) and Two or More Races (3.7%). 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 Rasheda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rasheda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.9% (710 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 Rasheda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rasheda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rasheda 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 Rasheda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rasheda 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 Rasheda 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 share the name Rasheda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.