Nakeem
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "priceless" or "invaluable".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Nakeem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nakeem today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nakeem births was 2002 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nakeem. 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
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
2002
13 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,778
Tracked since 1989
Census
Nakeem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 172 people with the first name Nakeem, which placed it at #42,074 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
#42,074
National first-name rank
People counted
172
172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nakeem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nakeem is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.9%). 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 Nakeem 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 Nakeem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.5% · 154
- Two or more races4.1% · 7
- White2.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Nakeem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nakeem from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 74 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Nakeem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nakeem 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 Nakeem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nakeem
The name Nakeem originates from the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "naqama," which means "to avenge" or "to seek retribution." It likely emerged during the early Islamic period in the Middle East, around the 7th century CE.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Naqim" or "Naqeem," with variations in the vowel sounds. It was relatively uncommon in ancient times, with few recorded instances in historical texts or religious scriptures from the region.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Nakeem was Nakeem ibn Abdallah, a scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century CE in present-day Iraq. He is credited with contributing to the development of Arabic poetry during the Abbasid Caliphate.
Another notable figure was Nakeem al-Andalusi, a mathematician and astronomer from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) during the 10th century CE. He made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry and is believed to have influenced the work of later European scholars.
In the 12th century CE, Nakeem ibn Qays was a prominent Arab physician and philosopher who wrote extensively on medical topics and the natural sciences. His works were widely studied and translated into various languages, influencing the development of medicine in the medieval period.
During the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 14th to the early 20th century, the name Nakeem was occasionally used by members of the ruling class or among scholars and intellectuals. One such individual was Nakeem Pasha, a high-ranking Ottoman official and statesman in the 16th century.
Moving forward in history, Nakeem Al-Rasheed was a notable Arabian poet and writer from the 19th century, known for his works that celebrated Arab culture and heritage. He was instrumental in reviving interest in traditional Arabic literature and poetry.
These are just a few examples of individuals who bore the name Nakeem throughout history, hailing from various regions and making contributions in fields such as literature, science, and governance.
People
Nakeem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nakeem as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nakeem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nakeem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nakeem 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 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Nakeem a common name?
We classify Nakeem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nakeem most popular?
The single biggest year for Nakeem was 2002, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nakeem is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nakeem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 172 people with the name Nakeem, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,074 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 Nakeem 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 Nakeem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nakeem leans strongly male. 163 people counted with this name were male (96.4%), compared with 6 female bearers (3.6%). 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 Nakeem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nakeem is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.9%). 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 Nakeem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nakeem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (154 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 Nakeem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nakeem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nakeem 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 Nakeem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nakeem 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 Nakeem 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 Nakeem?
You can see how many people share the name Nakeem on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.