Abbas
A masculine Arabic name meaning "stern" or "harsh".
Name Census estimates that about 1,758 living Americans carry the first name Abbas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abbas today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abbas births was 2018 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abbas. 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 Abbas with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Abbas is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 194,968 Americans
Peak year
2018
95 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,872
Tracked since 1975
Census
Abbas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,252 people with the first name Abbas, which placed it at #4,409 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
#4,409
National first-name rank
People counted
4.3K
4,252 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abbas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abbas is White at 57.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.4%) and Black (8.1%). 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 Abbas 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 Abbas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.8% · 2,458
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.4% · 1,078
- Black or African American8.1% · 343
- Two or more races7.6% · 325
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Popularity
Abbas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abbas from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 687 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abbas remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abbas 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 Abbas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abbas' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Michigan, California, New York recorded the most babies named Abbas, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 80 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abbas
The name Abbas has its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the word "al-'abbas" which means "the lion" or "the stern". The name has been in use since ancient times in the Middle East and North Africa.
Abbas is a masculine given name that has been popular among Arab and Muslim communities for centuries. It is often associated with Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the youngest paternal uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He played a significant role in the early days of Islam and was known for his bravery and loyalty to his nephew.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Abbas can be found in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. The name is mentioned in reference to Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who embraced Islam and supported Muhammad in his mission.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Abbas. One of the most famous was Abbas I, also known as Abbas the Great, who ruled Persia (modern-day Iran) from 1588 to 1629. He is credited with establishing the Safavid dynasty and strengthening the country's military and economic power.
Another prominent figure with the name Abbas was Abbas Mirza, the crown prince of Persia from 1789 to 1833. He was known for his efforts to modernize the country and introduce Western ideas and technologies.
In the 20th century, Abbas Kiarostami was a renowned Iranian film director and screenwriter, best known for his poetic and minimalist style. He was born in 1940 and passed away in 2016, leaving behind a significant body of work that influenced world cinema.
Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad was an Egyptian writer, poet, and critic who lived from 1889 to 1964. He was a prominent figure in the Arab literary renaissance and played a crucial role in reviving the Arabic language and promoting modern Arabic literature.
In more recent times, Abbas Kiarostami was a renowned Iranian film director and screenwriter who lived from 1940 to 2016. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century, known for his poetic and minimalist style that explored philosophical and existential themes.
People
Abbas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abbas as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abbas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abbas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,758 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abbas 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 194,968 US residents.
Is Abbas a common name?
We classify Abbas as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,782 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abbas most popular?
The single biggest year for Abbas was 2018, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abbas 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 Abbas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,252 people with the name Abbas, or 1.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,409 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 Abbas 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 Abbas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abbas appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,261 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Abbas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abbas is White at 57.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.4%) and Black (8.1%). 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 Abbas most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Abbas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.8% (2,458 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 Abbas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abbas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abbas 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 Abbas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abbas 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 Abbas 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 Abbas?
Want to know how many Americans are named Abbas? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.