Oumar
A Muslim boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "life" or "long-lived".
Name Census estimates that about 715 living Americans carry the first name Oumar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oumar today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oumar births was 2013 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oumar. 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 Oumar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
715
~ 1 in 479,377 Americans
Peak year
2013
38 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,657
Tracked since 1993
Census
Oumar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,140 people with the first name Oumar, which placed it at #11,325 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
#11,325
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,140 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oumar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oumar is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.1%) and White (1.8%). 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 Oumar 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 Oumar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.6% · 1,078
- Two or more races2.1% · 24
- White1.8% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 8
Popularity
Oumar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oumar 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 294 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Oumar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oumar 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 Oumar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Oumars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Oumar, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 110 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oumar
The name Oumar originates from the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "Amir," which means "leader" or "commander." The name traces its roots back to the 7th century, during the early days of Islam.
Oumar was a common name among the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. One of the most prominent figures in Islamic history with this name was Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate. He ruled from 634 to 644 CE and played a crucial role in the expansion of the Islamic empire.
The name Oumar has been mentioned in various historical texts and religious scriptures, including the Qur'an and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). It has been a popular name among Muslims throughout history, reflecting the reverence for the second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Oumar can be found in the 8th century, during the Abbasid Caliphate. Oumar ibn Abd al-Aziz, a renowned caliph known for his justice and piety, ruled from 717 to 720 CE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Oumar. Here are five examples:
1. Oumar Tall (1794-1864), a religious and military leader who founded the Toucouleur Empire in present-day Mali and Senegal.
2. Oumar Blondin Diop (1847-1906), a Senegalese scholar and writer who made significant contributions to the preservation of Wolof literature and culture.
3. Oumar Ganda Fodio (1754-1817), a prominent Islamic scholar and religious leader who founded the Sokoto Caliphate in present-day northern Nigeria.
4. Oumar Sy (1912-2001), a Senegalese writer and intellectual known for his works on African philosophy and culture.
5. Oumar Bongo (1935-2009), the former President of Gabon who ruled from 1967 until his death in 2009.
The name Oumar has remained popular across various regions, including West Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East, reflecting its rich cultural and historical significance within the Islamic tradition.
People
Oumar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oumar 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
Oumar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oumar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 715 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oumar 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 479,377 US residents.
Is Oumar a common name?
We classify Oumar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oumar most popular?
The single biggest year for Oumar was 2013, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oumar 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 Oumar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,140 people with the name Oumar, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,325 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 Oumar 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 Oumar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oumar appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,139 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 Oumar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oumar is Black at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.1%) and White (1.8%). 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 Oumar most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Oumar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (1,078 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 Oumar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oumar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oumar 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 Oumar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oumar 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 Oumar 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 the name Oumar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.