Fatimata
A feminine Arabic name derived from "Fatima", meaning "one who abstains or weans".
Name Census estimates that about 310 living Americans carry the first name Fatimata. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fatimata today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fatimata births was 2015 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fatimata. 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 Fatimata with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
310
~ 1 in 1,105,659 Americans
Peak year
2015
20 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,076
Tracked since 1996
Census
Fatimata in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 523 people with the first name Fatimata, which placed it at #19,947 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
#19,947
National first-name rank
People counted
523
523 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fatimata
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatimata is Black at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). 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 Fatimata 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 Fatimata at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.7% · 506
- White1.5% · 8
- Two or more races1.1% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 3
Popularity
Fatimata: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fatimata from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 136 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fatimata remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fatimata 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 Fatimata during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fatimatas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fatimata
The name Fatimata is derived from the Arabic name Fatima, which has its roots in the Semitic root word "fatm" meaning "to wean" or "to be weaned." The name gained widespread recognition and popularity due to its association with Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, was born in Mecca around 615 CE. She was revered in the Islamic tradition as one of the four perfect women. Her name, Fatima, was often translated as "the bright one" or "the shining one," reflecting her virtuous character and spiritual radiance.
The name Fatimata emerged as a variant spelling of Fatima, particularly in West African regions influenced by Islamic culture. It became a popular name among Muslim communities in countries such as Mali, Senegal, and Gambia.
One of the earliest recorded historical figures bearing the name Fatimata was Fatimata Bint al-Husayn, a Shi'ite scholar and descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived in the 8th century CE. She was renowned for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and hadith.
Another notable figure was Fatimata Bint Muhammad, a 14th-century Moroccan scholar and mystic. She was known for her expertise in Sufism and her contributions to the study of Islamic spirituality.
In the 19th century, Fatimata Diallo was a prominent figure in the Soninke Empire, located in present-day Mali and Senegal. She was a skilled trader and played a significant role in the economic and cultural exchange between West Africa and the Middle East.
Fatimata Haider, born in 1914 in Mauritania, was a celebrated poet and storyteller. Her works celebrated the rich oral traditions of the Mauritanian people and helped preserve their cultural heritage.
In the realm of literature, Fatimata Sow Fall, a Senegalese writer born in 1942, gained recognition for her novels and short stories that explored themes of African identity, feminism, and social issues. Her works, such as "The Beggars' Strike," brought attention to the experiences of marginalized communities in West Africa.
The name Fatimata has endured through centuries, carrying the legacy of its origins in Islamic tradition and its association with notable figures who have contributed to various fields, including scholarship, literature, and cultural preservation.
People
Fatimata + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fatimata 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
Fatimata: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fatimata?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 310 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fatimata 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 1,105,659 US residents.
Is Fatimata a common name?
We classify Fatimata as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 313 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fatimata most popular?
The single biggest year for Fatimata was 2015, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fatimata is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fatimata in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 523 people with the name Fatimata, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,947 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 Fatimata 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 Fatimata?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fatimata appears almost entirely female. Of the 528 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Fatimata?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fatimata is Black at 96.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). 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 Fatimata most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Fatimata in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.7% (506 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 Fatimata in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fatimata a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fatimata 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 Fatimata still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fatimata 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 Fatimata 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 have Fatimata as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Fatimata on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.