Suleman
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "man of peace".
Name Census estimates that about 240 living Americans carry the first name Suleman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Suleman today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suleman births was 2017 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suleman. 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 Suleman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
240
~ 1 in 1,428,143 Americans
Peak year
2017
17 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,216
Tracked since 1993
Census
Suleman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 677 people with the first name Suleman, which placed it at #16,602 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
#16,602
National first-name rank
People counted
677
677 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Suleman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suleman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and White (6.6%). 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 Suleman 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 Suleman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander67.2% · 455
- Black or African American18.6% · 126
- White6.6% · 45
- Two or more races4.6% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Suleman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suleman 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 82 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Suleman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Suleman 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 Suleman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sulemans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Suleman
The name Suleman has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "Suleiman," which means "peaceful" or "man of peace." The name traces its roots back to the time of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. It is a variant of the biblical name Solomon, which is derived from the Hebrew word "Shalom," also meaning "peace."
The name Suleman is closely associated with the figure of King Solomon, known as Sulayman in Arabic, who was a revered ruler and prophet in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, Sulayman is mentioned as a wise and powerful king who was gifted with the ability to understand the language of animals and control the winds.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Suleman can be found in the Quran itself, where it appears in reference to King Solomon. Additionally, the name is mentioned in various Islamic texts and historical records, including the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and the works of medieval Islamic scholars.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Suleman. One of the most famous was Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. During his reign, the Ottoman Empire reached the peak of its power and cultural influence, with significant advancements in architecture, art, and literature.
Another prominent figure was Suleman Dawood (1892-1978), a Pakistani industrialist and philanthropist who played a pivotal role in the establishment of Pakistan's textile industry. He founded the Dawood Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Pakistan, and was known for his contributions to education and social welfare.
In the realm of literature, Suleman Natsir (1907-1993) was an Indonesian writer, scholar, and politician who played a significant role in the Indonesian independence movement. He was a prolific author and is considered one of the founding fathers of modern Indonesian literature.
Suleman Virk (1935-2021) was a prominent Punjabi poet and writer from Pakistan, renowned for his contributions to the Punjabi language and literature. His works explored themes of love, spirituality, and social issues, earning him numerous awards and accolades.
In the field of sports, Suleman Butt (born 1956) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played Test cricket for the national team in the 1980s. He was a skilled all-rounder known for his batting prowess and medium-pace bowling.
People
Suleman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suleman as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Suleman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suleman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suleman 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 1,428,143 US residents.
Is Suleman a common name?
We classify Suleman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 243 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suleman most popular?
The single biggest year for Suleman was 2017, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suleman is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Suleman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 677 people with the name Suleman, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,602 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 Suleman 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 Suleman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Suleman appears almost entirely male. Of the 672 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Suleman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suleman is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and White (6.6%). 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 Suleman most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Suleman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (455 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 Suleman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Suleman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Suleman 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 Suleman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Suleman 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 Suleman 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 Suleman?
You can see how many people share the name Suleman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.