Maham
Of Pakistani origin meaning "great" or "glorious".
Name Census estimates that about 317 living Americans carry the first name Maham. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Maham today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Maham births was 2001 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Maham. 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 Maham with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
317
~ 1 in 1,081,244 Americans
Peak year
2001
22 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,708
Tracked since 1990
Census
Maham in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 636 people with the first name Maham, which placed it at #17,376 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
#17,376
National first-name rank
People counted
636
636 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maham
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maham is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Maham 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 Maham at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.6% · 589
- White3.9% · 25
- Black or African American1.6% · 10
- Two or more races1.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Maham: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Maham from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 124 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Maham remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Maham 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 Maham during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mahams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Maham
The name Maham is of Persian origin and has its roots in the ancient Iranian language of Pahlavi. It is believed to have been derived from the word "mah," which means "moon" or "celestial body." The name has been in use since ancient times and has been associated with beauty, grace, and elegance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Maham can be found in the famous Persian epic, the Shahnameh, written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In this epic, Maham is mentioned as the name of a beautiful and virtuous woman.
During the medieval period, the name Maham gained popularity among the Persian aristocracy and was often given to daughters of noble families. One notable historical figure with this name was Maham Anaga, who lived in the 16th century and was the chief wife of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. She played a significant role in the politics of the Mughal Empire and was known for her influence over Akbar's decisions.
In the 17th century, Maham Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, was another prominent figure who bore this name. She was known for her charitable work and her support for the arts and literature.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Maham Arus, a renowned Persian poet, gained recognition for her beautiful and profound poetry. Her works were widely appreciated and celebrated in the literary circles of her time.
In the 19th century, Maham Khan was a prominent military commander who served in the army of the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Sikh Empire in Punjab. He was known for his bravery and strategic skills on the battlefield.
Throughout history, the name Maham has been associated with grace, beauty, and nobility, and it continues to be a popular choice for parents in various parts of the world, particularly in regions with Persian cultural influence.
People
Maham + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Maham 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
Maham: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Maham?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Maham 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 1,081,244 US residents.
Is Maham a common name?
We classify Maham as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 322 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Maham most popular?
The single biggest year for Maham was 2001, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Maham is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Maham in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 636 people with the name Maham, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,376 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 Maham 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 Maham?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Maham leans strongly female. 620 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 19 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Maham?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Maham is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Maham most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Maham in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (589 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 Maham in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Maham a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Maham 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 Maham still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Maham 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 Maham 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 Maham 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.