Kasim
An Arabic masculine name meaning "one who divides and distributes fairly".
Name Census estimates that about 783 living Americans carry the first name Kasim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kasim today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kasim births was 2004 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kasim. 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 Kasim with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
783
~ 1 in 437,745 Americans
Peak year
2004
31 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,322
Tracked since 1971
Census
Kasim in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 944 people with the first name Kasim, which placed it at #12,955 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
#12,955
National first-name rank
People counted
944
944 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kasim
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasim is Black at 42.7%. The next largest groups are White (32.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Kasim 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 Kasim at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American42.7% · 403
- White32.1% · 303
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.2% · 153
- Two or more races5.0% · 47
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Popularity
Kasim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kasim 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 220 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Kasim remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kasim 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 Kasim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kasims live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Kasim, while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kasim
The name Kasim has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "qasama," which means "to divide" or "to distribute." The name is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century CE.
Kasim is a variant spelling of the name Qasim, which is also a commonly used Arabic name. The name Qasim is mentioned in Islamic religious texts, specifically in the Hadith, which are the recorded sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is associated with Al-Qasim, who was one of the grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kasim was Al-Kasim ibn Idris, a prominent Arab mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 8th century CE. He made significant contributions to the development of algebra and contributed to the translation of Greek scientific texts into Arabic.
Another notable historical figure with the name Kasim was Kasim Khan Zand, who ruled over the Zand dynasty in Persia (modern-day Iran) during the 18th century. He was a military leader and briefly held the position of Shah (king) of Persia from 1759 to 1779.
In the realm of literature, Kasim is the name of a character in the famous Arabic literary work "One Thousand and One Nights," also known as "The Arabian Nights." This collection of Middle Eastern folk tales and stories dates back to the 9th century CE.
During the 20th century, Kasim Amin was an Egyptian writer and thinker who advocated for women's rights and social reforms. He published several influential works, including "The Liberation of Women" in 1899, which discussed the status of women in Egyptian society.
Another prominent figure with the name Kasim was Kasim Ismail Gulistanah, an Afghan poet and writer who lived in the 19th century. He is celebrated for his contributions to the development of modern Afghan poetry and literature.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Kasim, demonstrating its longstanding presence and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Kasim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kasim as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kasim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kasim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 783 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kasim 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 437,745 US residents.
Is Kasim a common name?
We classify Kasim as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 801 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kasim most popular?
The single biggest year for Kasim was 2004, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kasim is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kasim in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 944 people with the name Kasim, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,955 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 Kasim 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 Kasim?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kasim appears almost entirely male. Of the 938 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 Kasim?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasim is Black at 42.7%. The next largest groups are White (32.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.2%). 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 Kasim most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kasim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (403 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 Kasim in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kasim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kasim 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 Kasim still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kasim 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 Kasim 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 Kasim?
Find out how many Americans are named Kasim on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.