Oussama
A masculine Arabic name meaning "young lion" or "lion cub".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Oussama. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oussama today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oussama births was 1997 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oussama. 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 Oussama with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Oussama. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1997
6 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1997 SSA rank
#8,965
Tracked since 1997
Census
Oussama in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 394 people with the first name Oussama, which placed it at #24,446 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
#24,446
National first-name rank
People counted
394
394 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oussama
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oussama is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Oussama 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 Oussama at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 354
- Two or more races4.8% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 9
- Black or African American2.0% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
Popularity
Oussama: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Oussama 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 Oussama during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Oussama
The name Oussama has its origins in the Arabic language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Arabic root word "sa-ma," which means "to be elevated" or "to rise high." The name is often associated with concepts of nobility, eminence, and lofty status.
In the early days of Islam, the name Oussama gained prominence due to its connection with Oussama ibn Zayd, a renowned companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Oussama was a skilled military leader who was entrusted with leading an army against the Byzantine Empire in the early 7th century.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Oussama can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam. In Surah Al-Qasas (Chapter 28, Verse 14), the name is mentioned in the context of Moses seeking guidance from a wise and knowledgeable man.
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Oussama. One of the most famous was Oussama ibn Munqidh (1095-1188), a Syrian poet, author, and military leader during the Crusades. His memoir, "Kitab al-I'tibar," provides valuable insights into the cultural and political landscape of the time.
Another prominent figure was Oussama al-Mulk (1030-1092), a Persian vizier and influential statesman in the Seljuk Empire. He was known for his administrative reforms and played a crucial role in the expansion of the empire's territories.
In the realm of literature, Oussama ibn Abdallah al-Qurashi (1268-1328) was a renowned Arab scholar and writer from Granada, Al-Andalus (present-day Spain). His work, "Al-Nuwayri's Nihayat al-Arab fi Funun al-Adab," is considered a valuable encyclopedic work covering various subjects.
Oussama ibn Abi Nasr al-Misri (1298-1368), an Egyptian historian and biographer, was also a notable figure who chronicled the lives of prominent scholars and literary figures of his time in his work, "Rawdat al-Janan wa Nuzhah al-Mubtadi'in wa al-Muhtadin."
In more recent history, Oussama Jamal al-Din (1925-2009) was a Syrian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Syria from 1965 to 1970.
People
Oussama + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oussama 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
Oussama: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oussama?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oussama 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 Oussama a common name?
We classify Oussama 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 Oussama most popular?
The single biggest year for Oussama was 1997, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oussama is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oussama in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 394 people with the name Oussama, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,446 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 Oussama 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 Oussama?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oussama leans strongly male. 384 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Oussama?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oussama is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Oussama most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oussama in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (354 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 Oussama in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oussama a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oussama 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 Oussama still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oussama 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 Oussama 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 Americans are named Oussama?
Want to know how many people share the name Oussama? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.