Azad
Of Persian origin, meaning "free" or "independent" (less than 5 words).
Name Census estimates that about 341 living Americans carry the first name Azad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Azad today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Azad births was 2023 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Azad. 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 Azad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
341
~ 1 in 1,005,145 Americans
Peak year
2023
36 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,708
Tracked since 1918
Census
Azad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 811 people with the first name Azad, which placed it at #14,514 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
#14,514
National first-name rank
People counted
811
811 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Azad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Azad is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.7%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Azad 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 Azad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.2% · 423
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.7% · 257
- Black or African American7.9% · 64
- Two or more races5.5% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Popularity
Azad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Azad from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 120 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
Azad 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 Azad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Azads live
Origin
Meaning and history of Azad
The name Azad has its origins in the Persian language, where it means "free" or "liberated." This name has been in use for centuries, particularly in regions with cultural and historical ties to Persia, which is now modern-day Iran.
The earliest recorded use of the name Azad can be traced back to the 9th century, during the Islamic Golden Age. It was a popular name among Persian poets and scholars, who often used it to symbolize the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual freedom.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Azad was Azad Bilgrami (1704-1786), a renowned Sufi philosopher and poet from the Mughal Empire. His works, which explored themes of spirituality and self-discovery, were highly influential in the region.
Another prominent individual with the name Azad was Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), an Indian scholar, poet, and political leader who played a crucial role in India's struggle for independence. He served as the first Minister of Education in independent India and was a staunch advocate for secular education.
In the 20th century, the name Azad gained popularity among those fighting for freedom and independence from colonial rule. Azad Hind (1915-1997), an Indian revolutionary and a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement, adopted the name Azad as a symbol of his commitment to liberating India from British rule.
Azad Nagar (1927-2008), a Pakistani poet and writer, also bore this name. His literary works, which often explored themes of social justice and human rights, earned him widespread acclaim and numerous awards.
Another notable individual with the name Azad was Azad Jammu and Kashmir (1910-1987), a prominent political leader and activist who played a crucial role in the independence movement of the region of Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian subcontinent.
The name Azad has transcended its historical and cultural roots, and today it is used by people from various backgrounds and regions, particularly those who value the ideals of freedom, independence, and liberation.
People
Azad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Azad 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
Azad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Azad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Azad 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 1,005,145 US residents.
Is Azad a common name?
We classify Azad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Azad most popular?
The single biggest year for Azad was 2023, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Azad 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 Azad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 811 people with the name Azad, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,514 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 Azad 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 Azad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Azad leans strongly male. 787 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 30 female bearers (3.7%). 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 Azad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Azad is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.7%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Azad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Azad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (423 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 Azad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Azad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Azad 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 Azad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Azad 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 Azad 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 Americans are named Azad?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.