Abdi
Masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "servant of God."
Name Census estimates that about 341 living Americans carry the first name Abdi. It is a predominantly male name (97.1% of registrations). The average person named Abdi today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abdi births was 2006 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abdi. 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 Abdi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
341
~ 1 in 1,005,145 Americans
Peak year
2006
27 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,731
Tracked since 1997
Census
Abdi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,164 people with the first name Abdi, which placed it at #5,441 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
#5,441
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abdi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abdi is Black at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and White (4.9%). 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 Abdi 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 Abdi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.6% · 2,740
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 209
- White4.9% · 155
- Two or more races1.2% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Abdi
Abdi leans heavily male at 97.1% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Abdi as a male name
- Ranked #7,731 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (23 births)
Abdi as a female name
- Ranked #17,187 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 2001 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abdi leans strongly male. 3,074 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 90 female bearers (2.8%).
Popularity
Abdi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abdi from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 153 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Abdi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abdi 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 Abdi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abdis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abdi
The given name Abdi is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "Abd" meaning "servant" or "slave". It is a popular name among Muslims, particularly in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
The name Abdi has a strong connection to Islamic culture and tradition. It is often used as a prefix in combination with one of the 99 names or attributes of God in Islam. For example, Abdullah (servant of God), Abdulrahman (servant of the Most Merciful), and Abdulkarim (servant of the Most Generous).
The earliest recorded instances of the name Abdi can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the early Islamic caliphates. The name appears in various historical texts and records from that period.
One of the earliest and most notable figures with the name Abdi was Abdi ibn Abi Shaddad, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a military commander during the early Muslim conquests. He lived in the 7th century CE and participated in several significant battles and campaigns.
Another famous historical figure with the name Abdi was Abdi Pasha, an Ottoman general and statesman who lived in the 16th century CE. He served as the governor of several provinces in the Ottoman Empire and played a crucial role in military campaigns and diplomatic negotiations.
In the 18th century, Abdi Bey al-Kabir was a prominent Egyptian ruler and military leader who served as the governor of Egypt under the Ottoman Empire. He is known for his efforts in modernizing the country and strengthening its defenses.
During the 19th century, Abdi Ipse was a notable Somali poet and scholar who made significant contributions to the development of Somali literature and culture. His poetic works and teachings had a lasting impact on Somali society.
In the 20th century, Abdi Bile Aden was a Somali politician and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Somalia after the country gained independence in 1960. He played a pivotal role in establishing Somalia's international relations and representing the nation on the global stage.
People
Abdi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abdi 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
Abdi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abdi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abdi 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 1,005,145 US residents.
Is Abdi a common name?
We classify Abdi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 344 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abdi most popular?
The single biggest year for Abdi was 2006, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abdi is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abdi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,164 people with the name Abdi, or 1.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,441 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 Abdi 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 Abdi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abdi leans strongly male. 3,074 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 90 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Abdi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abdi is Black at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and White (4.9%). 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 Abdi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Abdi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (2,740 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 Abdi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abdi a male name?
Yes, 97.1% of people registered as Abdi 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 Abdi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abdi 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 Abdi 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 common is the name Abdi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.