Husam
A masculine Arabic name meaning "sword", representing strength and courage.
Name Census estimates that about 431 living Americans carry the first name Husam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Husam today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Husam births was 2002 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Husam. 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 Husam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
431
~ 1 in 795,254 Americans
Peak year
2002
19 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#7,923
Tracked since 1978
Census
Husam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,291 people with the first name Husam, which placed it at #10,372 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
#10,372
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,291 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Husam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Husam is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Husam 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 Husam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.4% · 1,103
- Two or more races5.3% · 68
- Black or African American5.2% · 67
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 20
Popularity
Husam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Husam from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Husam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Husam 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 Husam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Husams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Husam
Husam is a masculine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "hism," which means "sword" or "blade." It is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD.
The name holds historical significance as it was associated with warriors and soldiers during the time of the Islamic conquests. In Arabic literature and poetry, the word "husam" is often used as a metaphor for bravery, strength, and unwavering determination.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Husam can be found in the works of renowned Arab scholars and historians, such as Al-Tabari and Ibn Al-Athir, who chronicled the lives of notable figures from the early Islamic era.
Throughout history, several prominent individuals have borne the name Husam. One of the most famous was Husam al-Din Yunus (1242-1298), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Cairo, Egypt. He made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and spherical geometry.
Another notable figure was Husam al-Din al-Mughni (1169-1233), a renowned Islamic jurist and scholar from Baghdad, Iraq. He wrote extensively on Islamic jurisprudence and is considered one of the most influential Hanafi scholars of his time.
In the realm of literature, Husam al-Din al-Mutanabbi (915-965) was a celebrated Arab poet from modern-day Iraq. His poetic works, which often celebrated the virtues of bravery and chivalry, are still widely studied and admired in the Arab world.
During the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, Husam al-Din Lajin (1297-1359) was a prominent military commander and statesman. He played a pivotal role in defending the region against Mongol invasions and is remembered for his strategic prowess.
Another notable figure was Husam al-Din al-Sufi (903-986), an influential Persian astronomer and mathematician. He is best known for his comprehensive work on stars, titled "The Book of Fixed Stars," which remained a standard reference for centuries.
These are just a few examples of the many influential individuals throughout history who bore the name Husam, reflecting its deep-rooted connection to the Islamic and Arab world, as well as its association with valor, knowledge, and achievement.
People
Husam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Husam 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
Husam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Husam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 431 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Husam 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 795,254 US residents.
Is Husam a common name?
We classify Husam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 439 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Husam most popular?
The single biggest year for Husam was 2002, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Husam is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Husam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,291 people with the name Husam, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,372 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 Husam 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 Husam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Husam appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,290 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Husam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Husam is White at 85.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Husam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Husam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (1,103 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 Husam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Husam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Husam 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 Husam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Husam 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 Husam 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 Husam as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.