Halah
A feminine Islamic name of Arabic origin meaning "halo" or "nimbus".
Name Census estimates that about 142 living Americans carry the first name Halah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Halah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Halah births was 1996 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Halah. 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 Halah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
142
~ 1 in 2,413,763 Americans
Peak year
1996
9 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,532
Tracked since 1984
Census
Halah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 406 people with the first name Halah, which placed it at #23,937 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
#23,937
National first-name rank
People counted
406
406 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Halah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halah is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Halah 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 Halah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.1% · 321
- Two or more races8.1% · 33
- Black or African American6.7% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 5
Popularity
Halah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Halah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 60 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
Halah 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 Halah 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 Halah
The name Halah originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the Middle Eastern region. It is derived from the Arabic word "hala," which means "crescent moon." This name has been in use for centuries and holds significant cultural and historical significance.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, the crescent moon was a symbol of great importance, representing fertility, growth, and the cyclical nature of life. As such, the name Halah was often bestowed upon children with the hope that they would embody these qualities and lead a prosperous life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Halah can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. In the Quran, Halah is mentioned as the daughter of the prophet Shuaib, who was sent to preach to the people of Midian. This reference to Halah in a sacred text highlights the antiquity and religious significance of the name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Halah. One such person was Halah bint Khuwaylid (born around 580 CE), a prominent Arab poet and warrior from the Banu Asad tribe. Her poetry celebrated bravery and valor, and she is remembered for her participation in numerous battles during the early days of Islam.
Another historical figure named Halah was Halah al-Saddah (born in the 9th century CE), a renowned Arabic poet from Baghdad. Her poetry was highly regarded during her lifetime, and she was praised for her eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Halah bint Ahmad al-Marwazi (born in the 10th century CE) was a renowned scholar and jurist. She was widely respected for her vast knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the field of hadith studies.
Halah bint al-Hakim (born in the 11th century CE) was a prominent female ruler in the Fatimid Caliphate, which ruled over parts of North Africa and the Middle East. She served as the regent for her son, the caliph al-Mustansir, and played a crucial role in maintaining stability and governance during a turbulent period in the caliphate's history.
Lastly, Halah al-Nabulsi (born in the 17th century CE) was a Palestinian poet and scholar who gained recognition for her literary works and contributions to the intellectual discourse of her time. Her poetry celebrated the beauty of nature and explored themes of love and spirituality.
People
Halah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Halah 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
Halah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Halah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Halah 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 2,413,763 US residents.
Is Halah a common name?
We classify Halah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Halah most popular?
The single biggest year for Halah was 1996, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Halah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Halah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 406 people with the name Halah, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,937 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 Halah 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 Halah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Halah appears almost entirely female. Of the 415 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Halah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halah is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Halah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Halah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (321 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 Halah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Halah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Halah 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 Halah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Halah 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 Halah 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 called Halah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.