Mahin
A Persian name meaning moonlight or radiant.
Name Census estimates that about 178 living Americans carry the first name Mahin. It is a predominantly male name (91.1% of registrations). The average person named Mahin today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mahin births was 2009 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mahin. 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 Mahin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
178
~ 1 in 1,925,586 Americans
Peak year
2009
18 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,432
Tracked since 1993
Census
Mahin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,469 people with the first name Mahin, which placed it at #9,443 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
#9,443
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mahin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahin is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Mahin 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 Mahin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.9% · 997
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.5% · 331
- Two or more races8.4% · 123
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 10
- Black or African American0.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Mahin
Mahin leans heavily male at 91.1% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mahin as a male name
- Ranked #13,432 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (18 births)
Mahin as a female name
- Ranked #16,909 in 2001
- 5 female births in 2001
- Peak: 1993 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mahin leans strongly female. 1,238 people counted with this name were female (84.1%), compared with 234 male bearers (15.9%).
Popularity
Mahin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mahin 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 100 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mahin 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 Mahin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mahins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mahin
The name Mahin is believed to have its origins in the Persian language, which is spoken primarily in Iran and parts of Central Asia. It is derived from the Old Persian word "mah," which means "moon" or "month." The name is thought to have been in use as early as the Sassanid Empire, which ruled over Persia from the 3rd to the 7th century AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mahin can be found in the Shahnameh, a famous epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In the poem, Mahin is mentioned as the name of a beautiful woman who was beloved by the legendary hero Zal.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mahin. One of the most famous was Mahin Banoo Begum, a 16th-century princess and poet from the Mughal Empire. She was known for her eloquent poetry and her patronage of the arts.
Another prominent figure was Mahin Jalili, an Iranian poet and women's rights activist who lived in the early 20th century. She was a pioneer in the fight for women's education and equality in Iran, and her poems often reflected themes of social justice and women's empowerment.
In the realm of literature, Mahin Qudsi was a renowned Iranian author and playwright. Born in 1907, she was known for her powerful and thought-provoking works that explored social issues and the complexities of human relationships.
In the world of music, Mahin Tehrani was a celebrated Iranian singer and composer who was active in the mid-20th century. She was renowned for her powerful voice and her ability to convey deep emotions through her music.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Mahin in Islamic history is Mahin Bint Yazid, who lived in the 7th century. She was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and was known for her devotion to Islam and her charitable works.
People
Mahin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mahin 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
Mahin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mahin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mahin 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 1,925,586 US residents.
Is Mahin a common name?
We classify Mahin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 180 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mahin most popular?
The single biggest year for Mahin was 2009, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mahin is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mahin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,469 people with the name Mahin, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,443 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 Mahin 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 Mahin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mahin leans strongly female. 1,238 people counted with this name were female (84.1%), compared with 234 male bearers (15.9%). 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 Mahin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mahin is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Mahin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mahin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.9% (997 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 Mahin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mahin a male name?
Yes, 91.1% of people registered as Mahin 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 Mahin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mahin 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 Mahin 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 Mahin?
Want to know how many people share the name Mahin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.