Haider
A masculine Arabic name meaning "lion" or "brave one".
Name Census estimates that about 995 living Americans carry the first name Haider. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Haider today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haider births was 2024 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haider. 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 Haider with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
995
~ 1 in 344,477 Americans
Peak year
2024
69 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,137
Tracked since 1985
Census
Haider in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,742 people with the first name Haider, which placed it at #8,349 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
#8,349
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,742 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haider
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haider is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Haider 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 Haider at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.0% · 818
- Asian and Pacific Islander44.9% · 783
- Two or more races4.1% · 72
- Black or African American1.9% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Haider: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haider from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 386 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Haider remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haider 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 Haider during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haiders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Haider, while Virginia, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Haider
The name Haider has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "haidara," which means "lion" or "brave." The name is often associated with strength, courage, and bravery.
In Islamic history, one of the most notable figures bearing the name Haider was Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. He was given the honorific title "Haider" by the Prophet himself, acknowledging his bravery and valor in battles. Hazrat Ali is revered as the first Imam in Shia Islam and is regarded as a significant figure in Islamic theology and history.
The earliest recorded use of the name Haider can be found in various Islamic texts and historical records from the 7th century CE, particularly in the Arab regions. It gained popularity across various Muslim communities and spread to other parts of the world through cultural and religious influences.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Haider. One of the earliest recorded figures was Haider Ali, an 18th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India, who lived from 1722 to 1782. He was known for his military prowess and resistance against British colonial rule.
Another prominent figure was Haider Raza, an influential Indian modern artist, who lived from 1922 to 2016. He was a key pioneer of the Indian avant-garde movement and is celebrated for his unique style and contribution to contemporary Indian art.
In literature, Haider is also the name of the protagonist in the famous Urdu play "Haider" by Agha Hashr Kashmiri, which is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." The play, written in the 18th century, is a significant work in Urdu literature and explores themes of revenge, justice, and moral dilemmas.
Other notable individuals who have borne the name Haider include Haider Javed Husain, an Iraqi actor and film director born in 1942, and Haider Ackermann, a Colombian-born French fashion designer known for his innovative and avant-garde designs, who was born in 1971.
The name Haider has maintained its significance and popularity across various cultures and regions, particularly in the Arab world and among Muslim communities, where it continues to be associated with strength, bravery, and courage.
People
Haider + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haider as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Haider: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haider?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haider 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 344,477 US residents.
Is Haider a common name?
We classify Haider as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,005 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haider most popular?
The single biggest year for Haider was 2024, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haider is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haider in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,742 people with the name Haider, or 0.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,349 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 Haider 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 Haider?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haider appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,743 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Haider?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haider is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (44.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Haider most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Haider in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.0% (818 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 Haider in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haider a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haider 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 Haider still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haider 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 Haider 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 the name Haider?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Haider on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.