Aleem
Derived from Arabic meaning "knowledgeable", "learned", or "wise".
Name Census estimates that about 544 living Americans carry the first name Aleem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aleem today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aleem births was 2014 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aleem. 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 Aleem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
544
~ 1 in 630,063 Americans
Peak year
2014
22 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,907
Tracked since 1974
Census
Aleem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 612 people with the first name Aleem, which placed it at #17,827 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
#17,827
National first-name rank
People counted
612
612 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aleem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleem is Black at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.0%) and White (6.0%). 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 Aleem 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 Aleem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.0% · 263
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.0% · 251
- White6.0% · 37
- Two or more races5.4% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 10
Popularity
Aleem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aleem 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 155 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aleem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aleem 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 Aleem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aleems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aleem
The name Aleem has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic word 'ilm,' which means 'knowledge' or 'science.' The name Aleem can be translated as 'the knowledgeable one' or 'the learned one.'
In Islamic tradition, the name Aleem is one of the attributes of Allah, the supreme being. It is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, where Allah is referred to as "Al-Aleem," meaning "The All-Knowing" or "The Omniscient One."
The earliest recorded use of the name Aleem can be traced back to the 7th century, during the early years of Islamic civilization. One of the first notable individuals with this name was Aleem ibn Abi Al-Aswad, a renowned Arabic grammarian who lived in the 7th century and is credited with laying the foundations of Arabic grammar.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have borne the name Aleem. One of the most famous was Aleem al-Din Ali ibn Usman Al-Mawardi, a renowned Islamic jurist, philosopher, and scholar who lived from 972 to 1058 CE. He is best known for his influential works on Islamic jurisprudence and political theory, including his renowned book "Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyah" (The Ordinances of Government).
Another notable bearer of the name was Aleem-ud-Din Inayat Khan, an Indian mystic and musician who lived from 1882 to 1957. He is regarded as the founder of the Sufi Order in the West and played a significant role in introducing Sufism and the teachings of Islam to Western audiences.
In the field of literature, Aleem Siddiqi was a renowned Urdu poet and writer who lived from 1891 to 1976. His poetry, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, earned him widespread acclaim and a prominent place in the canon of Urdu literature.
More recently, Aleem Khan is a British filmmaker and screenwriter who has gained recognition for his work in both television and cinema. His critically acclaimed film "After Love" (2020) won several awards and garnered international recognition for its sensitive portrayal of cultural identity and familial relationships.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have carried the name Aleem throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human knowledge and achievement.
People
Aleem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aleem 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
Aleem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aleem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 544 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aleem 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 630,063 US residents.
Is Aleem a common name?
We classify Aleem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 555 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aleem most popular?
The single biggest year for Aleem was 2014, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aleem is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aleem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 612 people with the name Aleem, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,827 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 Aleem 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 Aleem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aleem leans strongly male. 595 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 17 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 Aleem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aleem is Black at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.0%) and White (6.0%). 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 Aleem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Aleem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.0% (263 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 Aleem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aleem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aleem 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 Aleem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aleem 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 Aleem 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 called Aleem?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.