Koran
An Arabic name for the holy scripture of Islam.
Name Census estimates that about 618 living Americans carry the first name Koran. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Koran today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Koran births was 1999 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Koran. 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 Koran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
618
~ 1 in 554,619 Americans
Peak year
1999
31 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,328
Tracked since 1975
Census
Koran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 496 people with the first name Koran, which placed it at #20,722 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
#20,722
National first-name rank
People counted
496
496 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Koran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Koran is Black at 80.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Koran 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 Koran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.4% · 399
- White8.1% · 40
- Two or more races4.8% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Koran
Koran leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Koran as a male name
- Ranked #13,328 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (31 births)
Koran as a female name
- Ranked #16,728 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1994 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Koran leans strongly male. 416 people counted with this name were male (84.7%), compared with 75 female bearers (15.3%).
Popularity
Koran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Koran from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 191 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Koran 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 Koran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Korans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Koran, while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Koran
The name Koran has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "Qur'an," which means "recitation" or "reading." It refers to the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the literal word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
The Qur'an itself is not a personal name but rather a sacred scripture. However, some Muslims may choose to name their children Koran as a way of honoring and revering the holy book. This practice is not widespread, and the name is relatively uncommon in most parts of the world.
There are no known historical figures of great significance who bore the name Koran. However, there are a few notable individuals who carried this name, such as:
1. Koran Godwin (born in 1974), an American football player who played as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL).
2. Koran Cousins (born in 1989), an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues, including the NBA G League.
3. Koran Streets (born in 1986), an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues, including the NBA G League and overseas.
4. Koran Wright (born in 1985), an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues, including the NBA G League and overseas.
5. Koran Bayliss (born in 1997), an Australian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League (NBL).
It is worth noting that while the name Koran is derived from the Islamic holy book, it does not necessarily indicate that the person bearing the name is Muslim or has any connection to the religion of Islam. In some cases, individuals may be given the name for its unique sound or meaning, without any religious connotations.
People
Koran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Koran 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
Koran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Koran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 618 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Koran 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 554,619 US residents.
Is Koran a common name?
We classify Koran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 631 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Koran most popular?
The single biggest year for Koran was 1999, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Koran is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Koran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 496 people with the name Koran, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,722 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 Koran 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 Koran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Koran leans strongly male. 416 people counted with this name were male (84.7%), compared with 75 female bearers (15.3%). 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 Koran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Koran is Black at 80.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Koran most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Koran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.4% (399 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 Koran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Koran a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Koran 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 Koran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Koran 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 Koran 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 the name Koran?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Koran, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.