Hamed
Of Arabic origin, meaning "praiseworthy" or "commendable".
Name Census estimates that about 550 living Americans carry the first name Hamed. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hamed today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hamed births was 1992 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hamed. 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 Hamed with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
550
~ 1 in 623,190 Americans
Peak year
1992
19 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,276
Tracked since 1976
Census
Hamed in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,767 people with the first name Hamed, which placed it at #8,249 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
#8,249
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,767 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hamed
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamed is White at 59.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Hamed 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 Hamed at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.7% · 1,055
- Black or African American13.1% · 231
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.5% · 220
- Two or more races11.1% · 197
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Hamed: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hamed from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 128 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Hamed remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hamed 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 Hamed during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hameds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hamed
The name Hamed has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "hamd," which means "praise" or "to praise." The name Hamed can be translated to mean "the one who praises" or "the praiser."
In the Islamic tradition, Hamed is considered a virtuous name as it is associated with praising and expressing gratitude to Allah (God). The name is mentioned in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, which emphasizes the importance of praising and thanking God.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Hamed can be found in the 7th century CE, during the early days of Islamic civilization. Hamed ibn Abi Hamed, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Basra (present-day Iraq), lived during this time period and made significant contributions to the study of Islamic jurisprudence.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hamed. One of the most famous was Hamed al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE), a Persian philosopher, theologian, and mystic who greatly influenced Islamic thought and spirituality. His seminal work, "The Revival of the Religious Sciences," is considered a masterpiece of Islamic literature.
Another prominent figure with this name was Hamed Karamustafa (1294-1388 CE), a Turkish poet and Sufi mystic who was renowned for his spiritual poetry and teachings. His work, "Divan-i Ilahi," is a collection of mystical poems that continue to inspire readers today.
In the modern era, Hamed Ben Bella (1916-2012) was a famous Algerian revolutionary and statesman who played a crucial role in Algeria's struggle for independence from French colonial rule. He served as the first President of independent Algeria from 1963 to 1965.
Hamed Abdel-Samad (1972-present) is a contemporary Egyptian-German political scientist, author, and secular activist who has written extensively on Islamic reform and the promotion of secular values in the Muslim world.
Throughout its history, the name Hamed has been a symbol of praise, gratitude, and spiritual devotion within the Islamic tradition. Its continuous use across centuries and regions reflects its enduring cultural significance.
People
Hamed + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hamed 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
Hamed: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hamed?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 550 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hamed 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 623,190 US residents.
Is Hamed a common name?
We classify Hamed as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 563 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hamed most popular?
The single biggest year for Hamed was 1992, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hamed 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 Hamed in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,767 people with the name Hamed, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,249 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 Hamed 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 Hamed?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hamed appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,770 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 Hamed?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hamed is White at 59.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.5%). 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 Hamed most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hamed in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.7% (1,055 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 Hamed in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hamed a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hamed 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 Hamed still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hamed 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 Hamed 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 Hamed as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Hamed on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.