Dayyan
A masculine given name of Arabic origin meaning "judge" or "arbiter".
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the first name Dayyan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dayyan today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dayyan births was 2010 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dayyan. 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 Dayyan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
112
~ 1 in 3,060,307 Americans
Peak year
2010
13 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,210
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Dayyan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dayyan from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 68 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dayyan 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 Dayyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dayyan
The given name Dayyan has its origins in Arabic, derived from the word "dayyan," which means "judge" or "arbiter." It is a name deeply rooted in Islamic culture and tradition.
In the early days of Islam, the term "dayyan" was used to refer to individuals who were entrusted with the responsibility of resolving disputes and administering justice according to Islamic law. The name Dayyan thus carries connotations of fairness, impartiality, and wisdom.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dayyan can be found in historical accounts of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, where it was sometimes given to scholars, judges, and individuals known for their knowledge and adherence to Islamic jurisprudence.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Dayyan. For instance, Dayyan al-Muqri (born around 1040 CE) was a renowned Andalusian scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Arabic grammar and lexicography.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dayyan ibn al-Asamm (born around 750 CE), a celebrated poet and literary figure from Kufa, Iraq, who was renowned for his mastery of the Arabic language and his eloquent verses.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Dayyan al-Khatib (born in the 12th century CE) was a prominent Hanafi jurist and scholar from Bukhara, known for his works on Islamic jurisprudence and his expertise in the field of hadith (prophetic traditions).
The name Dayyan also found its way into the annals of Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam. Dayyan al-Suhrawardi (born in the 12th century CE) was a revered Sufi master and the founder of the Suhrawardiyya order, known for his profound spiritual teachings and his emphasis on self-purification and divine love.
Another notable figure bearing the name Dayyan was Dayyan al-Baghdadi (born in the 11th century CE), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad, who made significant contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry.
These historical examples illustrate the widespread use and recognition of the name Dayyan across various regions and disciplines within the Islamic world, reflecting its association with wisdom, justice, and scholarly pursuits.
People
Dayyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dayyan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dayyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dayyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dayyan 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 3,060,307 US residents.
Is Dayyan a common name?
We classify Dayyan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dayyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Dayyan was 2010, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dayyan is about 13 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 Dayyan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dayyan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dayyan 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 Dayyan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dayyan 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 Dayyan 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 common is the name Dayyan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.