Madiha
A feminine Arabic name meaning "praise" or "praiser".
Name Census estimates that about 391 living Americans carry the first name Madiha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madiha today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madiha births was 2022 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madiha. 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 Madiha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
391
~ 1 in 876,610 Americans
Peak year
2022
17 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,428
Tracked since 1984
Census
Madiha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,303 people with the first name Madiha, which placed it at #10,298 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
#10,298
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,303 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madiha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madiha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.1%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Madiha 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 Madiha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander78.1% · 1,018
- White15.1% · 197
- Two or more races2.9% · 38
- Black or African American2.7% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Madiha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madiha from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 104 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Madiha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madiha 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 Madiha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madihas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Madiha
The name Madiha is of Arabic origin and is believed to have its roots in the Arabic word "madah," which means "to praise" or "to extol." It is a feminine name that carries a sense of admiration and reverence.
The earliest known usage of the name Madiha can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. It was a popular name among Arab women, particularly those from the Middle Eastern region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Madiha was Madiha al-Andalusiya, a renowned poet and scholar who lived in the 10th century in Cordoba, Spain. She was celebrated for her remarkable literary works and her contribution to the preservation of Arabic culture during the Umayyad Caliphate in Andalusia.
In the 12th century, Madiha al-Sham'a was a notable Arab female poet from Damascus, Syria. Her poetry often touched on themes of love, spirituality, and the experiences of women in her time. She is considered one of the most influential figures in the development of Arabic literary traditions.
During the 13th century, Madiha al-Baghdadiya was a celebrated calligraphist and artist from Baghdad, Iraq. Her intricate calligraphic works adorned numerous manuscripts and architectural structures, earning her a reputation as one of the most skilled calligraphers of her era.
In the 15th century, Madiha al-Qurashiya was a prominent scholar and religious leader from Mecca, Saudi Arabia. She was renowned for her extensive knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her dedication to teaching and spreading Islamic teachings.
Madiha Bint Uthman, who lived in the 17th century, was a highly respected poet and writer from Yemen. Her poetry explored themes of love, spirituality, and the struggles faced by women in her society. She is considered one of the most influential female literary figures in Yemeni history.
While the name Madiha has deep historical roots and significance, it has maintained its popularity across various regions and cultures over the centuries, serving as a testament to its enduring beauty and meaning.
People
Madiha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madiha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Madiha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madiha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 391 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madiha 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 876,610 US residents.
Is Madiha a common name?
We classify Madiha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madiha most popular?
The single biggest year for Madiha was 2022, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madiha is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madiha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,303 people with the name Madiha, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,298 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 Madiha 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 Madiha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madiha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,302 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Madiha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madiha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.1%. The next largest groups are White (15.1%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Madiha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Madiha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (1,018 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 Madiha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madiha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madiha 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 Madiha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madiha 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 Madiha 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 share the name Madiha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.