Babacar
A Muslim male given name of Senegalese origin meaning "respected father".
Name Census estimates that about 217 living Americans carry the first name Babacar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Babacar today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Babacar births was 2005 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Babacar. 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 Babacar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
217
~ 1 in 1,579,513 Americans
Peak year
2005
14 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,864
Tracked since 1997
Census
Babacar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 399 people with the first name Babacar, which placed it at #24,220 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
#24,220
National first-name rank
People counted
399
399 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Babacar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Babacar is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and White (1.0%). 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 Babacar 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 Babacar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.2% · 376
- Two or more races3.3% · 13
- White1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Babacar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Babacar 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 90 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Babacar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Babacar 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 Babacar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Babacars live
Origin
Meaning and history of Babacar
The name Babacar originates from the Wolof language spoken by the Wolof people of Senegal and parts of Mauritania. It is believed to have derived from the Wolof words "bàbbar" meaning "great" and "kàr" meaning "power" or "force." The name can be traced back to at least the 16th century, during the height of the Wolof Empire in West Africa.
Babacar is considered a traditional Wolof name often given to male children as a symbol of strength, courage, and greatness. In the Wolof culture, names carry significant meaning and are carefully chosen to reflect the desired qualities and aspirations for the child.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Babacar can be found in the writings of Portuguese explorers and traders who interacted with the Wolof people along the Senegambian coast in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. These accounts mention individuals with the name Babacar, suggesting its widespread use among the Wolof nobility and ruling class during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Babacar. One of the most famous was Babacar Diop (1813-1867), a prominent Wolof military leader and diplomat who played a crucial role in the resistance against French colonial expansion in Senegal. Another was Babacar N'Diaye (1907-1989), a Senegalese politician and intellectual who served as the first President of the National Assembly of Senegal after independence.
Other historically significant individuals with the name include Babacar Sarr (1929-2010), a Senegalese writer and poet who was instrumental in promoting Wolof literature and culture, and Babacar Guèye (1926-1997), a renowned Senegalese painter and sculptor whose works captured the essence of African art and identity.
In the realm of sports, Babacar N'Diaye (born 1962) was a prominent Senegalese basketball player who played in the NBA for the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Babacar, reflecting its deep roots in the Wolof culture and its significance as a symbol of strength, power, and cultural identity.
People
Babacar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Babacar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Babacar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Babacar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 217 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Babacar 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 1,579,513 US residents.
Is Babacar a common name?
We classify Babacar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Babacar most popular?
The single biggest year for Babacar was 2005, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Babacar 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 Babacar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 399 people with the name Babacar, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,220 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 Babacar 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 Babacar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Babacar appears almost entirely male. Of the 402 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Babacar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Babacar is Black at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and White (1.0%). 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 Babacar most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Babacar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (376 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 Babacar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Babacar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Babacar 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 Babacar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Babacar 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 Babacar 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 have Babacar as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.