Husayn
A masculine Arabic given name meaning "good", "beautiful", or "handsome little boy".
Name Census estimates that about 184 living Americans carry the first name Husayn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Husayn today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Husayn births was 2024 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Husayn. 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 Husayn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
184
~ 1 in 1,862,795 Americans
Peak year
2024
24 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,342
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Husayn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Husayn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 84 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Husayn 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 Husayn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Husayns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Husayn, while New York, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Husayn
The name Husayn has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a masculine given name derived from the Arabic word "husn," which means beauty, goodness, or excellence. The name Husayn is closely associated with the Islamic faith and holds significant historical and religious importance.
One of the earliest and most prominent individuals to bear the name Husayn was Husayn ibn Ali (626-680 CE), the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the son of Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatimah. Husayn played a pivotal role in the early history of Islam and is remembered as a martyr who sacrificed his life in the Battle of Karbala, defending the values and principles of Islam against the oppressive rule of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala is a defining moment in the history of Shia Islam, and his name is deeply revered by Shia Muslims worldwide. The annual commemoration of Husayn's martyrdom, known as Ashura, is a major religious observance in the Shia tradition, marked by mourning rituals, processions, and expressions of grief and remembrance.
Another notable figure in Islamic history who bore the name Husayn was Husayn al-Kurdi (1456-1512), a Kurdish scholar, poet, and Sufi mystic. He is renowned for his poetic works, which explored themes of love, mysticism, and spirituality, and his contributions to the development of Kurdish literature.
In the modern era, the name Husayn has also been carried by several influential figures, including Husayn Kamil (1853-1917), a prominent Egyptian nationalist and reformer who played a significant role in the Egyptian nationalist movement against British colonial rule.
Additionally, Husayn ibn Nasser (1901-1995), a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the last king of the Hejaz region in present-day Saudi Arabia, bore the name Husayn.
Other notable individuals with the name Husayn include Husayn Al-Omari (1939-2009), an Iraqi writer and journalist known for his literary works and contributions to Iraqi literature, and Husayn Fahri (1858-1923), an Egyptian intellectual, writer, and advocate of secular education and modernization in Egypt.
While the name Husayn has deep historical and religious roots in the Arabic and Islamic traditions, it has also transcended cultural boundaries and is used by individuals from various backgrounds and regions around the world.
People
Husayn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Husayn 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
Husayn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Husayn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 184 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Husayn 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 1,862,795 US residents.
Is Husayn a common name?
We classify Husayn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 186 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Husayn most popular?
The single biggest year for Husayn was 2024, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Husayn is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Husayn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Husayn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Husayn 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 Husayn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Husayn 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 Husayn 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Husayn 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.