Moustapha
From Arabic roots, meaning "the chosen one" or "worthy of esteem".
Name Census estimates that about 380 living Americans carry the first name Moustapha. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moustapha today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moustapha births was 2005 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moustapha. 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 Moustapha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
380
~ 1 in 901,985 Americans
Peak year
2005
23 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,091
Tracked since 1995
Census
Moustapha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 715 people with the first name Moustapha, which placed it at #15,935 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
#15,935
National first-name rank
People counted
715
715 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moustapha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moustapha is Black at 84.8%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Moustapha 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 Moustapha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.8% · 606
- White12.2% · 87
- Two or more races2.2% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Moustapha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moustapha from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 145 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moustapha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moustapha 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 Moustapha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moustaphas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Moustapha
The given name Moustapha has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "mustafa", which means "the chosen one" or "the elect". This name holds significant importance in the Islamic faith as it was one of the honorific titles bestowed upon the Prophet Muhammad.
The name Moustapha can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the early years of Islam's emergence in the Arabian Peninsula. It was commonly used among the Arab tribes and quickly spread to other regions as Islam expanded. The name's popularity was closely tied to the reverence and admiration for the Prophet Muhammad, who was often referred to as "al-Mustafa" by his followers.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Moustapha is mentioned in various religious texts and historical accounts. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, refers to the Prophet Muhammad as "the chosen one" or "the elect", reinforcing the meaning associated with this name. Additionally, numerous hadith (sayings and traditions of the Prophet) and biographical works on the life of Muhammad further solidify the significance of this name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Moustapha can be found in the works of Islamic scholars and historians from the 8th and 9th centuries CE, such as Ibn Ishaq and Al-Waqidi, who documented the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Moustapha, including:
1. Moustapha al-Bakri (1014-1094 CE), a renowned Andalusian scholar and geographer who authored the influential work "Book of Roads and Kingdoms".
2. Moustapha Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, who played a pivotal role in the modernization and secularization of the country.
3. Moustapha Akkad (1909-2005), a Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for producing the iconic horror film franchise "Halloween".
4. Moustapha Chouair (1912-1997), a Lebanese poet and writer, considered one of the pioneers of modern Arabic poetry.
5. Moustapha Ouali (born 1944), a Moroccan artist and calligrapher, known for his modern interpretations of Arabic calligraphy.
These are just a few examples of the numerous individuals who have carried the name Moustapha throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural and religious significance across various regions and eras.
People
Moustapha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moustapha 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
Moustapha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moustapha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moustapha 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 901,985 US residents.
Is Moustapha a common name?
We classify Moustapha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 384 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moustapha most popular?
The single biggest year for Moustapha was 2005, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moustapha is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moustapha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 715 people with the name Moustapha, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,935 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 Moustapha 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 Moustapha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moustapha appears almost entirely male. Of the 715 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Moustapha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moustapha is Black at 84.8%. The next largest groups are White (12.2%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Moustapha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Moustapha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.8% (606 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 Moustapha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moustapha a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moustapha 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 Moustapha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moustapha 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 Moustapha 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 are called Moustapha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.