Ilhan
A masculine Somali given name meaning "truth" or "firm believer".
Name Census estimates that about 565 living Americans carry the first name Ilhan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Ilhan today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilhan births was 2019 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilhan. 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 Ilhan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
565
~ 1 in 606,645 Americans
Peak year
2019
45 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,402
Tracked since 1997
Census
Ilhan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 694 people with the first name Ilhan, which placed it at #16,301 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
#16,301
National first-name rank
People counted
694
694 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ilhan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilhan is Black at 53.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%). 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 Ilhan 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 Ilhan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.9% · 374
- White31.7% · 220
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.4% · 65
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 21
- Two or more races2.0% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Ilhan
Ilhan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 570 total registrations, 158 (27.7%) were male and 412 (72.3%) were female.
Ilhan as a male name
- Ranked #7,402 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (14 births)
Ilhan as a female name
- Ranked #9,797 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (33 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ilhan on both sides of the split. Of the 701 people counted with this name, 282 were male (40.2%) and 419 were female (59.8%).
Popularity
Ilhan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilhan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 275 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ilhan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilhan 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 Ilhan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilhans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilhan
The name Ilhan has its origins in the Turkish language and culture. It is a compound name derived from the combination of the Turkish words "il" meaning "land" or "country" and "han" meaning "ruler" or "sovereign." The name can be translated to mean "ruler of the land" or "sovereign of the country."
In Turkish history, the title "han" was used to refer to the leaders or rulers of various Turkic empires and kingdoms, such as the Khans of the Mongolian Empire or the Seljuk Turks. The name Ilhan may have been given to individuals born into ruling families or those destined for leadership roles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ilhan can be found in the 13th century, during the reign of the Ilkhanate, a Mongol dynasty that ruled over parts of modern-day Iran, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The Ilkhanate was founded by Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, and the name Ilhan may have been used within this dynasty.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ilhan. One example is Ilhan Mansiz, a 13th-century Turkish poet and mystic who lived during the Seljuk period. His works, often written in the form of ghazals (lyric poems), explored themes of love, spirituality, and Sufism.
Another prominent figure was Ilhan Arsel, a Turkish general and statesman who served as the 10th President of Turkey from 1983 to 1989. Born in 1899, he played a crucial role in the country's transition to democracy after years of military rule.
In the realm of sports, Ilhan Mansiz, a Turkish footballer born in 1986, gained recognition for his successful career playing for various clubs, including Besiktas and Kayserispor, as well as representing the Turkish national team.
The name Ilhan has also been carried by notable scholars and intellectuals. One such individual was Ilhan Bashgoz, a Turkish linguist and academic who made significant contributions to the study of Turkic languages and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Throughout the centuries, the name Ilhan has maintained its presence in various cultures and societies influenced by the Turkish language and traditions. While its popularity may have fluctuated over time, it continues to hold significance as a name deeply rooted in the rich history and cultural legacy of the region.
People
Ilhan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilhan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ilhan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilhan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 565 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilhan 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 606,645 US residents.
Is Ilhan a common name?
We classify Ilhan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 570 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilhan most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilhan was 2019, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilhan is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ilhan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 694 people with the name Ilhan, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,301 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 Ilhan 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 Ilhan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ilhan on both sides of the split. Of the 701 people counted with this name, 282 were male (40.2%) and 419 were female (59.8%). 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 Ilhan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilhan is Black at 53.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%). 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 Ilhan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ilhan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (374 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 Ilhan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ilhan a female name?
Yes, 72.3% of people registered as Ilhan 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 Ilhan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ilhan 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 Ilhan 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 Ilhan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.