Amadu
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "the trustworthy one".
Name Census estimates that about 114 living Americans carry the first name Amadu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Amadu today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amadu births was 2006 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amadu. 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 Amadu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
114
~ 1 in 3,006,617 Americans
Peak year
2006
12 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,759
Tracked since 1999
Census
Amadu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 436 people with the first name Amadu, which placed it at #22,736 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
#22,736
National first-name rank
People counted
436
436 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amadu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amadu is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Amadu 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 Amadu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.7% · 413
- White1.8% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 7
- Two or more races1.6% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Amadu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amadu 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 49 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Amadu remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amadu 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 Amadu 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 Amadu
The given name Amadu has its origins in the Mandinka language, spoken by the Mandinka people of West Africa. The name is derived from the Arabic name "Ahmad" or "Muhammad," which means "the praised one" or "the one who is praiseworthy."
Historically, the Mandinka people were a prominent ethnic group within the Mali Empire, which flourished in West Africa from the 13th to the 17th century. The name Amadu was likely introduced to the region during the spread of Islam and was adopted by the Mandinka people, who embraced the religion and incorporated Arabic names into their culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Amadu can be found in the Epic of Sundiata, a famous Mandinka oral tradition that dates back to the 13th century. The epic tells the story of Sundiata Keita, the legendary founder of the Mali Empire, and mentions several individuals with the name Amadu, suggesting its widespread use during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Amadu. Among them is Amadu Bamba (1853-1927), a Senegalese Muslim religious leader and the founder of the Mouride Brotherhood, one of the most influential Sufi orders in West Africa. Another prominent individual was Amadu Gassama (1915-1983), a Malian politician and diplomat who served as the first Prime Minister of Mali after the country's independence from France in 1960.
In the realm of literature, Amadu Hampâté Bâ (1901-1991) was a renowned Malian writer, ethnologist, and historian who played a crucial role in preserving the oral traditions and cultural heritage of the Fulani people. His works, such as "The Fortunes of Wangrin" and "The Wonderful Adventures of Nalla and Damisen," have become classics in African literature.
In the world of sports, Amadu Massire Diallo (1975-) is a former Guinean football player who represented his country in several international tournaments and played professionally in various European leagues.
Amadu Camara (1972-) is another notable figure, a Gambian politician and former Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in his country, known for his efforts to promote economic development and fight corruption.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Amadu, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and significance within the Mandinka and broader West African communities.
People
Amadu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amadu 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
Amadu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amadu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 114 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amadu 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 3,006,617 US residents.
Is Amadu a common name?
We classify Amadu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amadu most popular?
The single biggest year for Amadu was 2006, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amadu is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Amadu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 436 people with the name Amadu, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,736 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 Amadu 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 Amadu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amadu appears almost entirely male. Of the 432 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Amadu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amadu is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Amadu most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Amadu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (413 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 Amadu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amadu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Amadu 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 Amadu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amadu 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 Amadu 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 Amadu?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.