Allam
An Indian masculine name derived from the Sanskrit word "aalamu" meaning "path".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Allam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Allam today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Allam births was 2007 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Allam. 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 Allam with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Allam. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2007
5 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,396
Tracked since 2007
Census
Allam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 148 people with the first name Allam, which placed it at #45,698 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
#45,698
National first-name rank
People counted
148
148 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Allam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allam is White at 39.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (39.2%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Allam 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 Allam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.2% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino39.2% · 58
- Black or African American10.8% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.1% · 12
- Two or more races2.7% · 4
Popularity
Allam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Allam from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Allam 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 Allam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Allam
The name Allam is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language, where it is derived from the root word "alam," which means "world" or "universe." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals with a connection to the wider world or a sense of universality.
In Islamic tradition, the name Allam is often associated with knowledge and learning. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name is found in the Qur'an, where it is mentioned as one of the attributes of Allah, the supreme being in Islamic belief. This connection to divine knowledge and wisdom may have contributed to the name's popularity among Muslim communities.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Allam was Allam al-Basri, a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian who lived in the 7th century CE. He was highly respected for his contributions to the interpretation of the Qur'an and his insights into Islamic jurisprudence.
Another notable figure was Allam ibn Ata, a 9th-century Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the field of algebra and is credited with introducing the concept of algebraic equations to the Islamic world.
In the 11th century, Allam al-Dimashqi, a Syrian philosopher and scientist, gained prominence for his works on logic, metaphysics, and natural sciences. His writings influenced the development of Islamic thought and served as a bridge between Greek and Islamic philosophical traditions.
During the medieval period, the name Allam was also associated with literary figures. One such individual was Allam al-Shadhili, a 13th-century Sufi poet and mystic from Morocco. His poetry and teachings on Sufism had a profound impact on the spiritual traditions of North Africa and beyond.
In more recent times, Allam Prabhu, an Indian social reformer and activist from the 19th century, used the name Allam. He is remembered for his efforts to promote education and social upliftment among marginalized communities in southern India.
While the name Allam may have originated in the Arabic language, its use has transcended cultural and geographic boundaries, being adopted by various communities around the world. The name's associations with knowledge, universality, and spiritual wisdom have contributed to its enduring appeal throughout history.
People
Allam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Allam 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
Allam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Allam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Allam 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Allam a common name?
We classify Allam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Allam most popular?
The single biggest year for Allam was 2007, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Allam is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Allam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 148 people with the name Allam, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,698 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 Allam 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 Allam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Allam leans strongly male. 144 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Allam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Allam is White at 39.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (39.2%) and Black (10.8%). 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 Allam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Allam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.2% (58 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 Allam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Allam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Allam 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 Allam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Allam 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 Allam 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 have the name Allam?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Allam, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.