Hakiem
A masculine Arabic name meaning "wise" or "learned".
Name Census estimates that about 95 living Americans carry the first name Hakiem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hakiem today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hakiem births was 2003 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hakiem. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hakiem. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
95
~ 1 in 3,607,940 Americans
Peak year
2003
11 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,131
Tracked since 1975
Census
Hakiem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 154 people with the first name Hakiem, which placed it at #44,677 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
#44,677
National first-name rank
People counted
154
154 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
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 Hakiem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hakiem is Black at 83.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.2%). 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 Hakiem 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 Hakiem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.8% · 129
- White7.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 5
- Two or more races3.2% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 4
Popularity
Hakiem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hakiem from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 24 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Hakiem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hakiem 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 Hakiem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hakiem
The name Hakiem has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the early days of Islam. It is derived from the Arabic root word "hakama," which means "to judge" or "to govern." The name is often associated with wisdom, authority, and leadership.
In the 7th century, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, there were several notable figures who bore the name Hakiem. One of them was Hakiem ibn Hizam, a companion of the Prophet and a respected jurist who played a significant role in the early Islamic community.
The name Hakiem also has a strong connection to Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam. One of the most famous Sufis in history was Hakiem Tirmidhi, who lived in the 9th century and authored several influential works on Sufism, including the "Kitab al-Ilm" (Book of Knowledge).
During the Golden Age of Islamic civilization, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th centuries, the name Hakiem was relatively common among scholars, philosophers, and leaders. One notable figure was Hakiem al-Tirmidhi, a 9th-century theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the development of Islamic thought.
In the realm of literature, Hakiem Sanai was a renowned Persian poet who lived in the 12th century. His masterpiece, "The Walled Garden of Truth," is considered one of the greatest works of Persian Sufi poetry.
Another famous bearer of the name was Hakiem Nizari, the founder of the Nizari Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. He lived in the 11th century and played a crucial role in the spread of Ismaili teachings throughout parts of modern-day Iran, Syria, and Pakistan.
Over the centuries, the name Hakiem has been carried by various individuals from different walks of life, including scholars, rulers, and religious leaders. While its popularity has ebbed and flowed, the name remains deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic world.
People
Hakiem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hakiem 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
Hakiem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hakiem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 95 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hakiem 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 3,607,940 US residents.
Is Hakiem a common name?
We classify Hakiem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 97 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hakiem most popular?
The single biggest year for Hakiem was 2003, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hakiem is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hakiem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 154 people with the name Hakiem, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,677 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 Hakiem 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 Hakiem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hakiem leans strongly male. 156 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Hakiem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hakiem is Black at 83.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.2%). 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 Hakiem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Hakiem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.8% (129 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 Hakiem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hakiem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hakiem 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 Hakiem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hakiem 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 Hakiem 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 Hakiem?
Want to know how many people share the name Hakiem? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.