Ajwa
A feminine Arabic name meaning "palm dates from Ajwa Valley".
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Ajwa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ajwa today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ajwa births was 2014 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ajwa. 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 Ajwa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
2014
16 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,935
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Ajwa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ajwa from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 105 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ajwa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ajwa 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 Ajwa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ajwas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ajwa
The name Ajwa is of Arabic origin and can be traced back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "ajwah," which means "dates" or "date palms." The name is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula, where date palm cultivation has been an important part of the culture and economy for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Ajwa can be found in Islamic teachings. According to the hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), Ajwa dates were highly regarded and were believed to have medicinal properties. The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, "Whoever starts the morning by eating seven Ajwa dates, no poison or magic will harm him that day."
In the 9th century CE, Ajwa became a popular name among Arab scholars and poets. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Ajwa bint al-Harith (born around 810 CE), a renowned poet from Medina. Her poetic works were widely celebrated and have been preserved in various anthologies.
During the medieval period, the name Ajwa gained popularity among Muslim rulers and nobility. One notable figure was Ajwa al-Baghdadi (1075–1155), a female scholar from Baghdad who made significant contributions to the fields of Islamic theology and jurisprudence. Her writings on Quranic exegesis and Islamic law were highly influential in her time.
In the 13th century, Ajwa al-Andalusi (1220–1293) was a renowned physician and philosopher from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). She was known for her expertise in medicine and her contributions to the development of Arabic medical literature.
Another prominent figure with the name Ajwa was Ajwa bint Abi Bakr (1605–1678), a Sufi mystic and scholar from the Ottoman Empire. She was highly respected for her spiritual teachings and her writings on Sufism, which had a significant impact on the mystical traditions of the region.
While the name Ajwa has historical roots and significance in the Arab and Islamic world, it has also been used by individuals from various cultural backgrounds over the centuries. However, due to the limited availability of historical records, it is challenging to provide a comprehensive account of all individuals with this name throughout history.
People
Ajwa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ajwa 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
Ajwa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ajwa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ajwa 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 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Ajwa a common name?
We classify Ajwa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 147 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ajwa most popular?
The single biggest year for Ajwa was 2014, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ajwa is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ajwa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ajwa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ajwa in the SSA data are female. 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 Ajwa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ajwa 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 Ajwa 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Ajwa?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Ajwa at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.