Mansa
A masculine name of Mandinka origin meaning "sultan" or "king".
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Mansa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mansa today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mansa births was 2023 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mansa. 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.
People living today
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
2023
34 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,804
Tracked since 1970
Popularity
Mansa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mansa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 144 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mansa 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 Mansa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mansas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Georgia, New York recorded the most babies named Mansa, while Texas, New York, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mansa
The name Mansa originates from the Mandinka language, spoken by the Mandinka people of West Africa. It derives from the word "mansa," which means "king" or "ruler." This name has its roots in the ancient Mali Empire, which flourished in the 13th to 17th centuries.
The Mali Empire was one of the largest and most influential empires in West African history. It was renowned for its wealth, generated through trade in gold and salt across the Sahara Desert. The Mandinka people were the ruling class of the empire, and their language became the lingua franca of the region.
One of the most famous rulers of the Mali Empire was Mansa Musa, who reigned from 1312 to 1337. He is renowned for his wealth and his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, during which he reportedly spent vast sums of gold, gaining widespread recognition and leaving a lasting impact on the economies of the regions he passed through.
Another notable figure with the name Mansa was Mansa Kankan Musa, who ruled the Songhai Empire in the late 15th century. He was a powerful ruler who expanded the empire's territory and strengthened its military.
In more recent times, Mansa Musa Keita was a Malian politician and diplomat who served as the first Prime Minister of Mali from 1960 to 1968, following the country's independence from France.
Mansa Idrissu was a renowned Ghanaian writer and academic, born in 1946. He made significant contributions to the field of African literature and was a pioneering voice in postcolonial studies.
Mansa P. Mussa was a prominent Zambian politician and diplomat, born in 1924. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and later as the Vice President of Zambia in the 1970s.
Throughout history, the name Mansa has been associated with leadership, power, and cultural significance, particularly in the West African region. Its connection to the Mali Empire and the Mandinka people has made it a name with deep historical roots and cultural resonance.
People
Mansa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mansa 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
Mansa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mansa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mansa 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 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Mansa a common name?
We classify Mansa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mansa most popular?
The single biggest year for Mansa was 2023, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mansa is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mansa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mansa 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.
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.