Abdoulaye
Servant of the Most High One (Arabic origin)
Name Census estimates that about 903 living Americans carry the first name Abdoulaye. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abdoulaye today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abdoulaye births was 2007 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abdoulaye. 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.
People living today
903
~ 1 in 379,573 Americans
Peak year
2007
47 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,943
Tracked since 1992
Popularity
Abdoulaye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abdoulaye 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 343 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abdoulaye remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abdoulaye 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 Abdoulaye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abdoulayes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Abdoulaye, while Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 110 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abdoulaye
The name Abdoulaye has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a compound name formed by combining the Arabic words "Abd" meaning "servant" and "Al-Laye" which is derived from one of the 99 names of God in Islam, "Al-Wali" meaning "the Protector" or "the Guardian."
This name was initially prevalent among the Muslim communities of West Africa, particularly in regions like Senegal, Mali, and Guinea, where the Islamic faith had a strong influence. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th century, during the era of the Mali Empire, a powerful medieval West African state centered around the present-day nation of Mali.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Abdoulaye was Abdoulaye Yero, a 14th-century ruler of the Songhai Empire, which dominated a significant portion of West Africa during the 15th and 16th centuries. His reign, which spanned from 1370 to 1390, was marked by territorial expansion and the consolidation of power within the empire.
In the 19th century, Abdoulaye Seck (1833-1904) was a prominent Senegalese Islamic scholar and religious leader who played a crucial role in the spread of Islam and the establishment of Sufi orders in the region. He founded the village of Thiès, which later became an important urban center in Senegal.
Another influential figure was Abdoulaye Wade (born 1926), a Senegalese politician who served as the President of Senegal from 2000 to 2012. He was a pivotal figure in the country's transition to democracy and received recognition for his efforts to promote economic development and social reforms.
In the realm of literature, Abdoulaye Sadji (1910-1961) was a renowned Senegalese writer and educator who contributed significantly to the development of African literature in the French language. His works, such as "Nini, mulâtresse du Sénégal" (Nini, the Mulatto of Senegal), explored themes of identity, colonialism, and the interplay of African and European cultures.
The name Abdoulaye has also gained recognition in the world of sports, with Abdoulaye Diop-Favard (born 1977) being a prominent figure. He is a Senegalese former professional basketball player who played in the NBA and represented the Senegalese national team in international competitions, contributing to the growing popularity of basketball in West Africa.
People
Abdoulaye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abdoulaye 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
Abdoulaye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abdoulaye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 903 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abdoulaye 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 379,573 US residents.
Is Abdoulaye a common name?
We classify Abdoulaye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 912 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abdoulaye most popular?
The single biggest year for Abdoulaye was 2007, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abdoulaye is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Abdoulaye a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abdoulaye 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.
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.