Obaidullah
Servant of Allah, an Arabic name combining obaid (servant) and Allah (God).
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Obaidullah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Obaidullah today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Obaidullah births was 2022 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Obaidullah. 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 Obaidullah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Obaidullah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2022
5 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,599
Tracked since 2022
Popularity
Obaidullah: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Obaidullah 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 Obaidullah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Obaidullah
The name Obaidullah has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the combination of two words: "Obaid" and "Allah." The first part, "Obaid," means "servant" or "worshipper," while "Allah" is the Arabic word for God or the Supreme Being in Islam.
This name can be traced back to the early days of Islam, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle Eastern region, where it was commonly given to male children as a symbol of devotion and submission to Allah. The name carries a significant religious and cultural significance in the Islamic tradition, reflecting the deep-rooted belief in monotheism and the reverence for the divine.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Obaidullah can be found in the historical accounts of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, which ruled vast territories in the Middle East and parts of North Africa between the 7th and 13th centuries. During this era, many notable figures bore the name, including scholars, poets, and military leaders.
Among the prominent individuals who carried the name Obaidullah throughout history are:
1. Obaidullah ibn Jahsh (585-624 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the earliest converts to Islam.
2. Obaidullah ibn Abi Bakrah (610-688 CE), a renowned scholar and narrator of hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad).
3. Obaidullah ibn Ziyad (619-686 CE), a prominent military commander and governor during the Umayyad Caliphate.
4. Obaidullah ibn Yahya al-Buhturi (820-897 CE), a celebrated Arab poet and writer during the Abbasid Caliphate.
5. Obaidullah Khan (1572-1624), a Mughal prince and governor of the province of Kabul during the reign of Emperor Jahangir in the Indian subcontinent.
The name Obaidullah has been widely used across various regions and cultures influenced by Islam, including the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Its enduring popularity reflects the deep-rooted Islamic traditions and the desire of parents to bestow upon their children a name that carries spiritual significance and a connection to the faith.
People
Obaidullah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Obaidullah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Obaidullah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Obaidullah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Obaidullah 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Obaidullah a common name?
We classify Obaidullah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Obaidullah most popular?
The single biggest year for Obaidullah was 2022, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Obaidullah is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Obaidullah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Obaidullah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Obaidullah 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 Obaidullah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Obaidullah 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 Obaidullah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Obaidullah?
See how many Americans are named Obaidullah on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.