Ashari
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "rose" or "bearer of good news".
Name Census estimates that about 647 living Americans carry the first name Ashari. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashari today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashari births was 2003 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashari. 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.
People living today
647
~ 1 in 529,759 Americans
Peak year
2003
71 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,259
Tracked since 1992
Census
Ashari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 511 people with the first name Ashari, which placed it at #20,272 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
#20,272
National first-name rank
People counted
511
511 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashari is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (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 Ashari 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 Ashari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.9% · 449
- Two or more races6.1% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 15
- White1.6% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 8
Popularity
Ashari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashari from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 373 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashari 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 Ashari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Asharis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Ashari, while Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashari
The name Ashari has its origins in the Arabic language, specifically rooted in the term "ashari," which means "tenth." This connection suggests that the name may have its earliest roots in the 10th century or may have been associated with someone born on the 10th day of a particular month or year.
In Islamic history and culture, the name Ashari holds significance as it is linked to Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a prominent theologian and scholar who lived from 873 to 935 CE. He founded the school of theological thought known as the Ash'ari doctrine, which sought to reconcile Islamic faith with reason and philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ashari can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta. In his accounts from the 14th century, he mentions encountering individuals with the name during his travels across the Islamic world, indicating its usage at that time.
Throughout history, the name Ashari has been borne by several notable figures, including Ashari al-Basri (876-936 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who made significant contributions to the field of jurisprudence. Another prominent individual was Ashari al-Mawsili (938-1015 CE), a celebrated musician and composer who played a pivotal role in the development of Arabic music.
In the modern era, one of the most famous individuals with the name Ashari was Ashari Mochtar (1921-2018), an Indonesian diplomat and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Indonesia from 1978 to 1988. He played a crucial role in shaping Indonesia's foreign policy during a period of significant change in the region.
Another notable figure was Ashari Dahlan (1945-2022), a Malaysian politician and former Minister of Youth and Sports. He was widely recognized for his contributions to the development of sports in Malaysia and his efforts to promote youth empowerment and leadership.
While the name Ashari may have originated in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, its usage has transcended geographical boundaries, with individuals bearing the name found in various parts of the world, including Southeast Asia, Africa, and beyond.
People
Ashari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashari 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
Ashari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 647 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashari 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 529,759 US residents.
Is Ashari a common name?
We classify Ashari 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, 656 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashari most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashari was 2003, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashari is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 511 people with the name Ashari, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,272 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 Ashari 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 Ashari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashari leans strongly female. 473 people counted with this name were female (92.9%), compared with 36 male bearers (7.1%). 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 Ashari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashari is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and Hispanic (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 Ashari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ashari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (449 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 Ashari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashari a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashari 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 Ashari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashari 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 Ashari 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 common is the name Ashari?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.