Diallo
Of Malian origin, meaning "bold" or "wealthy prince".
Name Census estimates that about 768 living Americans carry the first name Diallo. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Diallo today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Diallo births was 1972 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Diallo. 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 Diallo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
768
~ 1 in 446,295 Americans
Peak year
1972
81 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,910
Tracked since 1971
Census
Diallo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 686 people with the first name Diallo, which placed it at #16,449 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
#16,449
National first-name rank
People counted
686
686 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Diallo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Diallo is Black at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Diallo 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 Diallo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.8% · 575
- Two or more races9.2% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 29
- White2.5% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Diallo
Out of the 801 babies given the name Diallo since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Diallo as a male name
- Ranked #6,910 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1972 (76 births)
Diallo as a female name
- Ranked #8,596 in 1972
- 5 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1972 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Diallo leans strongly male. 669 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 18 female bearers (2.6%).
Popularity
Diallo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Diallo from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 315 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Diallo 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 Diallo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Diallos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Diallo, while Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Diallo
The name Diallo originated from the Mandinka or Mandingo ethnic group of West Africa, particularly in present-day Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, and Senegal. It is believed to have derived from the Mandinka word "dialou," which means "bold" or "brave." The name can be traced back to the medieval era, around the 13th or 14th century.
Diallo was a common name among the Mandinka people, who were known for their rich cultural heritage and significant role in the trans-Saharan trade routes. The name was often associated with warriors, hunters, and leaders, reflecting the values of courage and strength within the Mandinka society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Diallo can be found in the West African oral tradition, particularly in the epic of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire in the 13th century. Several characters in this epic bear the name Diallo, indicating its prevalence and importance within the Mandinka culture during that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Diallo:
1. Bakari Diallo (c. 1670-1736), a prominent Mandinka leader and diplomat from Senegal who played a crucial role in establishing diplomatic relations between France and the Jolof Empire.
2. Mamadou Diallo (1839-1898), a Mandinka warrior and resistance leader who fought against French colonial expansion in Guinea during the late 19th century.
3. Sidia Diallo (1879-1955), a Senegalese historian and writer who played a significant role in preserving and documenting the history and culture of the Mandinka people.
4. Abdoulaye Diallo (1913-1986), a renowned Malian writer, journalist, and activist who championed the cause of African unity and independence.
5. Mamadou Diallo (born 1965), a Guinean musician and percussionist known for his contributions to the West African music scene and for preserving the traditional rhythms and instruments of the Mandinka culture.
These individuals, along with countless others, have carried the name Diallo throughout history, reflecting its deep roots in the Mandinka culture and its association with bravery, leadership, and the preservation of cultural heritage.
People
Diallo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Diallo 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
Diallo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Diallo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 768 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Diallo 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 446,295 US residents.
Is Diallo a common name?
We classify Diallo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 801 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Diallo most popular?
The single biggest year for Diallo was 1972, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Diallo is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Diallo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 686 people with the name Diallo, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,449 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 Diallo 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 Diallo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Diallo leans strongly male. 669 people counted with this name were male (97.4%), compared with 18 female bearers (2.6%). 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 Diallo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Diallo is Black at 83.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Diallo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Diallo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (575 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 Diallo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Diallo a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Diallo 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 Diallo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Diallo 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 Diallo 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 are named Diallo?
Want to know how many people share the name Diallo? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.