Fadumo
A feminine Somali name meaning "beautiful pearl" or "precious pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Fadumo. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fadumo today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fadumo births was 2006 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fadumo. 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 Fadumo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
2006
19 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,563
Tracked since 1995
Census
Fadumo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,943 people with the first name Fadumo, which placed it at #7,731 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
#7,731
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,943 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
98.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fadumo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fadumo is Black at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Hispanic (0.5%). 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 Fadumo 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 Fadumo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American98.3% · 1,910
- White0.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 9
- Two or more races0.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Popularity
Fadumo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fadumo from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fadumo 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 Fadumo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fadumos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Minnesota, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Fadumo, while California, Ohio, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fadumo
The name Fadumo is of Somali origin and is derived from the Arabic word "faduma," which means "the praised one" or "the glorified one." It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries among the Somali people, who are predominantly Muslim and live in the Horn of Africa region.
The earliest recorded use of the name Fadumo dates back to the 7th century, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. According to Islamic tradition, Fadumo was the name of one of the Prophet's companions, a woman known for her piety and dedication to the faith. This association with the early days of Islam likely contributed to the name's popularity among Somali Muslims.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Fadumo. One of the most famous was Fadumo Dayib (1952-1976), a Somali feminist and revolutionary who fought against the oppressive Siad Barre regime in the 1970s. She was executed by the government at the age of 24 for her activism, and her story has become a symbol of resistance and the struggle for women's rights in Somalia.
Another prominent figure was Fadumo Ahmed (1906-1968), a Somali politician and activist who played a significant role in the nation's independence movement. She was one of the first women elected to the Somali Parliament and worked tirelessly to promote education and empowerment for Somali women.
In the realm of literature, Fadumo Qasim Hilowle (1923-2005) was a renowned Somali poet and writer. Her works explored themes of love, identity, and the experiences of Somali women, and she is considered one of the most influential voices in modern Somali literature.
Fadumo Abdillahi Dahir (born 1953) is a Somali diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Women and Human Rights Development in Somalia. She has been a vocal advocate for women's rights and has worked to address issues such as gender-based violence and maternal health.
Fadumo Ismail Aidid (1957-2022) was a Somali activist and entrepreneur who founded the Mother Somalia organization, which aimed to empower women and promote peace and reconciliation in the country. She was widely respected for her humanitarian efforts and her commitment to improving the lives of Somali women and children.
These are just a few examples of the notable women throughout history who have carried the name Fadumo, a name that has deep roots in Somali culture and Islamic tradition, and continues to be a popular choice among Somali families today.
People
Fadumo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fadumo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fadumo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fadumo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fadumo 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 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Fadumo a common name?
We classify Fadumo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fadumo most popular?
The single biggest year for Fadumo was 2006, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fadumo is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fadumo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,943 people with the name Fadumo, or 0.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,731 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 Fadumo 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 Fadumo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fadumo appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,948 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Fadumo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fadumo is Black at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Hispanic (0.5%). 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 Fadumo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fadumo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (1,910 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 Fadumo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fadumo a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fadumo in the SSA data are female. 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 Fadumo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fadumo 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 Fadumo 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 Fadumo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.