Arham
An Arabic name meaning gracious, merciful, or compassionate.
Name Census estimates that about 1,991 living Americans carry the first name Arham. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arham today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arham births was 2024 (202 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arham. 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 Arham with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Arham is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 172,152 Americans
Peak year
2024
202 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,074
Tracked since 1996
Census
Arham in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,187 people with the first name Arham, which placed it at #10,982 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
#10,982
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arham
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arham is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Arham 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 Arham at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.6% · 1,123
- White1.7% · 20
- Two or more races1.6% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
- Black or African American0.5% · 6
Popularity
Arham: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arham 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 913 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
Arham 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 Arham during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arhams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Arham, while Ohio, North Carolina, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arham
The name Arham is of Arabic origin, deriving from the Arabic word "Ar-Rahman," which means "The Most Merciful" or "The Most Compassionate." This name is closely associated with Islam and the belief in the divine attribute of mercy and compassion.
The earliest recorded use of the name Arham can be traced back to the 7th century CE, around the time of the emergence of Islam and the compilation of the Quran. The name gained significance due to its connection with one of the 99 names of God in Islamic tradition, Al-Rahman.
In Islamic texts and historical records, the name Arham is often mentioned in the context of seeking divine mercy and forgiveness. It is believed that by naming a child Arham, parents express their hope for their child to embody the qualities of compassion and mercy throughout their life.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Arham was Arham ibn Abi Al-'As, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century CE. He was known for his bravery and participated in several major battles during the early years of Islam.
Another historical figure with the name Arham was Arham Al-Basri, a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian who lived in the 8th century CE. He was born in Basra, Iraq, and was known for his vast knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the field of Islamic philosophy.
In the 11th century CE, there was Arham Al-Kindi, a renowned mathematician and philosopher from Kufa, Iraq. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and optics, and his works were widely studied and discussed in the Islamic world.
During the 13th century CE, Arham Al-Qudsi was a prominent Sufi mystic and poet from Jerusalem. His poetry and spiritual writings were highly influential in the Sufi tradition and explored themes of divine love, devotion, and the pursuit of inner truth.
In the 16th century CE, Arham Khan was a notable military leader and governor in the Mughal Empire in India. He served under the reign of Emperor Akbar and was known for his strategic prowess and leadership on the battlefield.
These are just a few examples of notable historical figures who bore the name Arham, reflecting its significance and connection to Islamic culture, scholarship, and spirituality throughout various eras and regions.
People
Arham + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arham 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
Arham: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arham?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,991 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arham 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 172,152 US residents.
Is Arham a common name?
We classify Arham as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,006 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arham most popular?
The single biggest year for Arham was 2024, when 202 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arham is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arham in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,187 people with the name Arham, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,982 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 Arham 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 Arham?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arham leans strongly male. 1,162 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 34 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 Arham?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arham is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.6%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Arham most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Arham in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (1,123 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 Arham in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arham a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arham 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 Arham still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arham 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 Arham 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 Arham?
You can see how many Americans are named Arham on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.