Ayatollah
A high-ranking Shia Muslim cleric in Iran, considered an expert in Islamic studies.
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Ayatollah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ayatollah today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayatollah births was 1979 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayatollah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ayatollah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1979
6 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1979 SSA rank
#5,412
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Ayatollah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ayatollah 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 Ayatollah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ayatollah
The name Ayatollah originates from Arabic and is a compound of two words: 'ayah' meaning 'sign' or 'miracle', and 'Allah' meaning 'God'. It is a title used to refer to the highest-ranking Shia Muslim clerics who have attained the level of authority to interpret and promulgate religious law.
The earliest use of the term can be traced back to the late 16th century during the Safavid dynasty in Persia (modern-day Iran). It was initially applied to those who had achieved the highest level of Islamic jurisprudence and were recognized as the most authoritative interpreters of Islamic law.
In the early 18th century, during the reign of Nader Shah, the term gained more widespread recognition and was used to denote the most influential and respected religious leaders within the Shia Islamic community. It was during this time that the concept of 'Marja' or 'Source of Emulation' emerged, where the Ayatollahs were seen as the ultimate spiritual and legal authorities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the term 'Ayatollah' can be found in the writings of the renowned Shia scholar, Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (1616-1698), who was referred to as 'Ayatollah al-Uzma' or 'Grand Ayatollah'. Other notable historical figures who held the title of Ayatollah include Mirza Muhammad Akhundzadeh (1810-1878), a prominent Shia scholar and reformist, and Muhammad Husayn Naini (1860-1936), a leading figure in the Persian Constitutional Revolution.
In the 20th century, the most famous Ayatollah was undoubtedly Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989), the leader of the Iranian Revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was widely recognized as the 'Grand Ayatollah' and played a pivotal role in shaping the political and religious landscape of modern Iran.
Other influential Ayatollahs in recent history include Ali Hosseini Khamenei (born 1939), the current Supreme Leader of Iran, and Ali al-Sistani (born 1930), one of the most prominent Shia clerics in Iraq and a respected authority on Islamic jurisprudence.
People
Ayatollah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayatollah 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
Ayatollah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayatollah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayatollah 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Ayatollah a common name?
We classify Ayatollah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayatollah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayatollah was 1979, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayatollah is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ayatollah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayatollah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ayatollah 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 Ayatollah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayatollah 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 Ayatollah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Ayatollah?
You can see how many people have the name Ayatollah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.