Mesut
A Turkish masculine name derived from the Arabic "masud" meaning fortunate or prosperous.
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Mesut. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mesut today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mesut births was 2012 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mesut. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mesut. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2012
6 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2012 SSA rank
#11,777
Tracked since 2012
Census
Mesut in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 195 people with the first name Mesut, which placed it at #38,993 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
#38,993
National first-name rank
People counted
195
195 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mesut
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mesut is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.5%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Mesut 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 Mesut at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 188
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Mesut: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mesut 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 Mesut during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mesut
The given name Mesut is of Turkish origin, derived from the Arabic name "Masud" or "Mas'ud". It is composed of the Arabic root word "sa'ada", meaning happiness or good fortune, and the prefix "ma" or "mu", indicating possession or endowment. The name can be translated as "the fortunate one" or "the blessed one".
In the Islamic tradition, the name Masud or Masood appears in several historical texts and records. It is mentioned in the Quran as one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad and is also found in various hadith (sayings of the Prophet) and early Islamic literature.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Mesut can be found in the Ottoman Empire, where it was commonly used among the ruling class and nobility. The name gained popularity during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Mesut II, who ruled from 1445 to 1446.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Mesut:
1. Mesut I (1324-1389), also known as Mesut Ghazi, was a Turkish ruler of the Anatolian Beyliks and the founder of the Aydinid dynasty.
2. Mesut II (1429-1479), an Ottoman Sultan who reigned for a brief period in 1446.
3. Mesut Yazıcı (1858-1912), a Turkish diplomat and statesman who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1909 to 1911.
4. Mesut Özil (born 1988), a German professional footballer of Turkish descent, who plays as a midfielder for the Turkish national team and various clubs, including Arsenal and Real Madrid.
5. Mesut Yılmaz (born 1947), a Turkish politician and former Prime Minister of Turkey from 1991 to 1996 and 1997 to 1999.
While the name Mesut has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic traditions, it has transcended cultural boundaries and is now used by people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, particularly in Turkey and countries with significant Turkish populations.
People
Mesut + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mesut 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
Mesut: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mesut?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mesut 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Mesut a common name?
We classify Mesut as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mesut most popular?
The single biggest year for Mesut was 2012, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mesut is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mesut in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 195 people with the name Mesut, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,993 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 Mesut 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 Mesut?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mesut appears almost entirely male. Of the 200 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Mesut?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mesut is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.5%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Mesut most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mesut in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (188 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 Mesut in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mesut a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mesut 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 Mesut still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mesut 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 Mesut 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 Mesut as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.