Aqsa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "the farthest mosque".
Name Census estimates that about 649 living Americans carry the first name Aqsa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aqsa today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aqsa births was 2024 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aqsa. 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 Aqsa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
649
~ 1 in 528,127 Americans
Peak year
2024
84 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,231
Tracked since 1990
Census
Aqsa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 829 people with the first name Aqsa, which placed it at #14,252 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
#14,252
National first-name rank
People counted
829
829 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aqsa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aqsa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Aqsa 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 Aqsa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.9% · 762
- White3.0% · 25
- Two or more races2.9% · 24
- Black or African American1.4% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Aqsa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aqsa from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 261 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
Aqsa 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 Aqsa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aqsas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, California, Virginia recorded the most babies named Aqsa, while New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aqsa
The name Aqsa originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the Islamic tradition. It is believed to be derived from the Arabic word "al-Aqsa," which means "the farthest" or "the most distant."
This name holds deep significance in Islamic history, as it is associated with the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, located in Jerusalem. The mosque's name, Al-Aqsa, is a reference to its location being the furthest mosque from the Prophet Muhammad's place of residence during his time in Mecca.
The name Aqsa gained prominence in the 7th century CE, during the early years of Islamic history. It is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, in reference to the Night Journey (Isra' and Mi'raj) of the Prophet Muhammad, where he traveled from Mecca to the "farthest mosque" (Al-Aqsa Mosque) in Jerusalem.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aqsa can be found in the historical accounts of Fatima al-Aqsa, a prominent Muslim woman who lived in the 7th century CE. She was known for her piety and her dedication to the preservation of Islamic teachings and traditions.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have been named Aqsa, including:
1. Aqsa bint Mu'awiyah (620-683 CE), a daughter of the Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah I and a respected figure in early Islamic history.
2. Aqsa al-Hanbali (1268-1344 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from the Hanbali school of jurisprudence.
3. Aqsa Khan (1753-1827), a prominent ruler of the Durrani Empire in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
4. Aqsa Samrin (born 1991), a Palestinian writer and activist known for her advocacy of Palestinian rights.
5. Aqsa Parvez (1991-2007), a Pakistani-Canadian woman who was tragically murdered by her father in an honor killing, bringing attention to the issue of domestic violence within certain communities.
The name Aqsa has maintained its significance in the Islamic world and is often chosen by parents as a way to honor their religious and cultural heritage. It serves as a reminder of the deep connection between Islam and the holy sites in Jerusalem, as well as the historical events and figures that have shaped the religion over centuries.
People
Aqsa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aqsa 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
Aqsa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aqsa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 649 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aqsa 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 528,127 US residents.
Is Aqsa a common name?
We classify Aqsa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 657 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aqsa most popular?
The single biggest year for Aqsa was 2024, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aqsa is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aqsa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 829 people with the name Aqsa, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,252 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 Aqsa 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 Aqsa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aqsa appears almost entirely female. Of the 820 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Aqsa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aqsa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.9%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Aqsa most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Aqsa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (762 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 Aqsa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aqsa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aqsa 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 Aqsa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aqsa 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 Aqsa 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 share the name Aqsa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.