Huda
An Arabic female name meaning "guidance" or "the right path".
Name Census estimates that about 1,868 living Americans carry the first name Huda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Huda today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Huda births was 2018 (88 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Huda. 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 Huda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Huda is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 183,487 Americans
Peak year
2018
88 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,282
Tracked since 1977
Census
Huda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,491 people with the first name Huda, which placed it at #5,050 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
#5,050
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,491 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Huda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Huda is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.6%) and Black (13.4%). 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 Huda 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 Huda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.9% · 2,161
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.6% · 651
- Black or African American13.4% · 468
- Two or more races5.2% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Popularity
Huda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Huda from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 600 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Huda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Huda 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 Huda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hudas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Huda, while Florida, Washington, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 56 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Huda
The name Huda is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "hady," which means "guidance" or "the right path." It is a name that carries deep spiritual and religious significance in Islamic culture.
In the Islamic tradition, the concept of guidance (hidayah) is central to the faith. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, repeatedly emphasizes the importance of seeking guidance and following the straight path. The name Huda is often given to girls as a reminder of the divine guidance that Muslims strive for in their lives.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Huda can be found in the famous Arabic literary work, "One Thousand and One Nights," also known as "The Arabian Nights." In this collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, there is a character named Huda, who is described as a wise and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Huda. One example is Huda Shaarawi (1879-1947), an Egyptian feminist leader and pioneer of the women's rights movement in Egypt. She played a pivotal role in advocating for women's education, political participation, and social reform.
Another prominent figure with the name Huda is Huda Sha'arawi (1912-1998), a Palestinian author and activist. She was a leading voice for Palestinian rights and worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the world of literature, Huda Barakat (born 1952) is a renowned Lebanese novelist and playwright. Her works explore themes of identity, displacement, and the complexities of modern Arab societies. She has received numerous literary awards and accolades for her contributions to Arabic literature.
Huda Kattan (born 1983) is a renowned beauty blogger, makeup artist, and entrepreneur from Iraq. She is the founder of the successful cosmetics brand Huda Beauty and has become a influential figure in the beauty industry, inspiring millions of followers worldwide.
Lastly, Huda Al-Matari (born 1964) is a prominent human rights activist from Yemen. She has dedicated her life to advocating for women's rights, democracy, and social justice in her country, often risking her own safety to do so.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Huda, each making their mark in their respective fields and embodying the spirit of guidance and righteousness that the name represents.
People
Huda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Huda 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
Huda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Huda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,868 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Huda 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 183,487 US residents.
Is Huda a common name?
We classify Huda as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,899 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Huda most popular?
The single biggest year for Huda was 2018, when 88 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Huda is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Huda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,491 people with the name Huda, or 1.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,050 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 Huda 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 Huda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Huda appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,492 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Huda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Huda is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.6%) and Black (13.4%). 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 Huda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Huda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.9% (2,161 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 Huda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Huda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Huda 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 Huda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Huda 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 Huda 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 Huda?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.