Fatema
Feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "the weaned one" or "baby girl".
Name Census estimates that about 863 living Americans carry the first name Fatema. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fatema today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fatema births was 2023 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fatema. 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 Fatema with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
863
~ 1 in 397,166 Americans
Peak year
2023
31 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,219
Tracked since 1970
Census
Fatema in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,587 people with the first name Fatema, which placed it at #6,243 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
#6,243
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,587 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
68.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fatema
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatema is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.3%. The next largest groups are White (20.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Fatema 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 Fatema at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander68.3% · 1,767
- White20.8% · 538
- Two or more races5.5% · 141
- Black or African American3.8% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Popularity
Fatema: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fatema from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 220 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Fatema remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fatema 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 Fatema during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fatemas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Michigan, California recorded the most babies named Fatema, while New Jersey, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fatema
Fatema is a feminine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "fatama" which means "to wean" or "to separate." The name is closely associated with Islam and has its roots in the 7th century AD when the religion was founded in the Arabian Peninsula.
The most significant historical figure associated with the name Fatema is Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. She was born in Mecca around 615 AD and is revered by Muslims as one of the most important women in Islamic history. Fatima al-Zahra is considered a role model for Muslim women due to her piety, intelligence, and devotion to her family and faith.
The name Fatema can also be found in various ancient texts and historical records. In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, there is a chapter (surah) named "Al-Fatir," which means "The Creator" or "The Originator." While this chapter does not directly reference the name Fatema, it is believed by some scholars to be a reference to the divine feminine aspect of creation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fatema is from the 9th century AD, when a woman named Fatema bint Muhammad al-Arabi al-Qurashi lived in Cordoba, Spain. She was a renowned scholar and poet who made significant contributions to the literary and intellectual culture of the Andalusian region.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Fatema. These include:
1. Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015), a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist known for her work on gender and Islam.
2. Fatema Surriya Begum (1835-1905), an Indian poet and writer who was a prominent figure in the literary renaissance of Bengal.
3. Fatema Masuma Baraghani (1814-1905), an Iranian Shia Muslim scholar and teacher who established a prominent seminary in Qom, Iran.
4. Fatema Mernissi (1940-2015), a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist known for her work on gender and Islam.
5. Fatema Zahra Khanum (1853-1949), an Iranian princess and the daughter of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, who played a significant role in the constitutional revolution in Iran.
The name Fatema has endured throughout the centuries, carrying with it a rich history and cultural significance, particularly within the Muslim world. Its connection to the revered daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and its association with the divine feminine have contributed to its enduring popularity and meaning.
People
Fatema + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fatema 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
Fatema: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fatema?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fatema 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 397,166 US residents.
Is Fatema a common name?
We classify Fatema as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 885 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fatema most popular?
The single biggest year for Fatema was 2023, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fatema is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fatema in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,587 people with the name Fatema, or 0.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,243 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 Fatema 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 Fatema?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fatema appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,587 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Fatema?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatema is Asian/Pacific Islander at 68.3%. The next largest groups are White (20.8%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Fatema most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Fatema in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.3% (1,767 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 Fatema in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fatema a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fatema 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 Fatema still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fatema 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 Fatema 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 Fatema?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.