Mehmet
A Turkish masculine name derived from the Arabic name Muhammad, meaning "praised, commended".
Name Census estimates that about 803 living Americans carry the first name Mehmet. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mehmet today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mehmet births was 2015 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mehmet. 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
803
~ 1 in 426,842 Americans
Peak year
2015
42 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,500
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Mehmet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mehmet from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 334 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mehmet 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 Mehmet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mehmets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Mehmet, while Illinois, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mehmet
The name Mehmet is a Turkish name derived from the Arabic name Muhammad, which means "praised" or "praiseworthy." This name has its origins in the 7th century AD and is associated with the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
The name Muhammad was initially used among the early Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula and later spread to other regions as Islam expanded. The Turkish variant, Mehmet, emerged as the name was adopted and adapted by the Turkish-speaking populations of Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire.
Mehmet was a common name among Ottoman sultans and other notable figures in Turkish history. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mehmet dates back to the 14th century, with Mehmet I, who ruled as the Ottoman Sultan from 1413 to 1421.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mehmet. One of the most famous was Mehmet II, also known as Mehmet the Conqueror (1432-1481), who conquered Constantinople in 1453 and transformed the city into the capital of the Ottoman Empire, renaming it Istanbul.
Another prominent figure with the name Mehmet was Mehmet Ali Pasha (1769-1849), an Ottoman governor and the de facto ruler of Egypt, who established the Khedivate of Egypt and implemented significant reforms in the region.
In the literary realm, Mehmet Akif Ersoy (1873-1936), a Turkish poet and academic, is renowned for writing the Turkish national anthem and for his influential work, "The Mosque of Samarkand."
Mehmet Emin Resulzade (1884-1955) was an Azerbaijani philosopher, writer, and political leader who played a significant role in the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918.
Mehmet Münir Ertegün (1891-1944), a Turkish diplomat and statesman, served as the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1944 to 1946 and made notable contributions to Turkey's foreign policy during World War II.
The name Mehmet has a rich historical legacy, originating from the Arabic name Muhammad and adapting to Turkish culture and language over centuries. Its use has been prominent among influential figures in Turkish and Islamic history, spanning rulers, writers, philosophers, and statesmen.
People
Mehmet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mehmet 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
Mehmet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mehmet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 803 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mehmet 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 426,842 US residents.
Is Mehmet a common name?
We classify Mehmet as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 816 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mehmet most popular?
The single biggest year for Mehmet was 2015, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mehmet is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mehmet a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mehmet 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.