Bilal
A masculine Arabic name meaning "moisturizer" or "wetter".
Name Census estimates that about 5,591 living Americans carry the first name Bilal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bilal today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bilal births was 2018 (195 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bilal. 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 Bilal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,305 Americans
Peak year
2018
195 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,181
Tracked since 1964
Census
Bilal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,549 people with the first name Bilal, which placed it at #3,257 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
#3,257
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,549 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
37.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bilal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bilal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 37.8%. The next largest groups are White (29.4%) and Black (25.8%). 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 Bilal 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 Bilal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander37.8% · 2,475
- White29.4% · 1,923
- Black or African American25.8% · 1,689
- Two or more races5.1% · 334
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Bilal
Out of the 5,695 babies given the name Bilal since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Bilal as a male name
- Ranked #1,181 in 2024
- 175 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (195 births)
Bilal as a female name
- Ranked #16,489 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bilal appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,544 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Bilal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bilal from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,580 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bilal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bilal 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 Bilal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bilals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Bilal, while Indiana, Connecticut, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 174 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bilal
The name Bilal is of Arabic origin and has been in use since ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic word "bal," which means "moisture" or "wetness." The name is believed to have been given to children born after a period of rain or during a rainy season.
One of the most famous historical references to the name Bilal is found in the Islamic tradition. Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi, who lived from around 580 to 640 AD, was a former Abyssinian slave who became one of the most trusted companions of the Prophet Muhammad. He was known for his beautiful voice and was chosen as the first muezzin, the person who calls Muslims to prayer.
In the 8th century, Bilal al-Muadhdhin was a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Kufa, Iraq, who lived from around 688 to 765 AD. He was known for his expertise in Islamic law and was a respected teacher of hadith (the recorded sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad).
Another notable figure in history was Bilal ibn Idris al-Amawi, who lived from around 786 to 857 AD. He was a renowned Arabic poet and scholar from Damascus, Syria, and was known for his contributions to the field of Arabic literature.
During the 10th century, Bilal al-Khabbaz was a famous Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad, Iraq. He lived from around 920 to 990 AD and made significant contributions to the development of algebra and trigonometry.
In the 12th century, Bilal al-Muhandis was a renowned Arab engineer and architect from Aleppo, Syria. He lived from around 1109 to 1195 AD and was known for his innovative designs and construction techniques, including the use of arches and domes in Islamic architecture.
The name Bilal has been used throughout history in various cultures and regions, including the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of South Asia. It has been a popular name among Muslims, but it has also been adopted by people of other faiths and backgrounds.
People
Bilal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bilal 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
Bilal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bilal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,591 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bilal 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 61,305 US residents.
Is Bilal a common name?
We classify Bilal as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,695 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bilal most popular?
The single biggest year for Bilal was 2018, when 195 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bilal is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bilal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,549 people with the name Bilal, or 2.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,257 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 Bilal 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 Bilal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bilal appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,544 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Bilal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bilal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 37.8%. The next largest groups are White (29.4%) and Black (25.8%). 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 Bilal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bilal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.8% (2,475 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 Bilal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bilal a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Bilal 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 Bilal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bilal 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 Bilal 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 share the name Bilal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.