Talib
A masculine Arabic name meaning "seeker of knowledge" or "student".
Name Census estimates that about 881 living Americans carry the first name Talib. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Talib today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talib births was 2002 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talib. 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 Talib with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
881
~ 1 in 389,051 Americans
Peak year
2002
42 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,749
Tracked since 1971
Census
Talib in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 953 people with the first name Talib, which placed it at #12,863 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
#12,863
National first-name rank
People counted
953
953 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talib
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talib is Black at 62.1%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.8%). 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 Talib 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 Talib at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.1% · 592
- White16.3% · 155
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.8% · 103
- Two or more races6.5% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Popularity
Talib: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talib from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 299 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Talib 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 Talib during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Talibs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Talib, while Florida, California, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Talib
The name Talib originated from the Arabic language and culture, with its roots dating back to the 7th century AD. The word "Talib" is derived from the Arabic term "Talab," which means "seeker" or "student." This name was commonly associated with individuals who were seekers of knowledge or students of Islamic teachings.
One of the earliest and most notable references to the name Talib can be found in Islamic religious texts, particularly in connection with the prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib. Ali, who lived from around 601 to 661 AD, was revered as the fourth caliph of Islam and played a crucial role in the early development of the religion.
Throughout history, the name Talib has been borne by several influential figures in various fields. One such individual was Talib ibn Sahl, a renowned Persian mathematician and astronomer who lived during the 8th century AD. He made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and authored several works on astronomy.
Another notable figure was Talib al-Makki, a Sufi scholar and mystic who lived in the 10th century AD. He was renowned for his philosophical and spiritual teachings and wrote several influential works on Sufism, including the celebrated text "Qut al-Qulub" (The Nourishment of Hearts).
In the literary realm, Talib al-Nahawi was a prominent Arab poet and grammarian who lived during the 9th century AD. He is credited with contributing to the development of Arabic grammar and poetic traditions.
The name Talib has also been associated with political and military figures throughout history. For example, Talib Jalil Kamel was an Iraqi politician and military leader who played a significant role in the Iraqi revolution against British rule in the early 20th century.
It is important to note that while the name Talib has a rich historical background, its popularity and usage have varied across different regions and time periods. However, its Arabic roots and association with seekers of knowledge and influential figures have contributed to its enduring legacy.
People
Talib + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talib as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Talib: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talib?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 881 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talib 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 389,051 US residents.
Is Talib a common name?
We classify Talib as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 902 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talib most popular?
The single biggest year for Talib was 2002, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talib is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Talib in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 953 people with the name Talib, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,863 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 Talib 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 Talib?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talib appears almost entirely male. Of the 952 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Talib?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talib is Black at 62.1%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.8%). 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 Talib most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Talib in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.1% (592 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 Talib in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Talib a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Talib 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 Talib still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Talib 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 Talib 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 are named Talib?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.