Qais
An Arabic name derived from "qaid" meaning leader or chief.
Name Census estimates that about 421 living Americans carry the first name Qais. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Qais today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Qais births was 2024 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Qais. 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 Qais with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
421
~ 1 in 814,143 Americans
Peak year
2024
37 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,251
Tracked since 1999
Census
Qais in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 635 people with the first name Qais, which placed it at #17,398 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
#17,398
National first-name rank
People counted
635
635 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Qais
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Qais is White at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.1%) and Two or More Races (12.9%). 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 Qais 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 Qais at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.4% · 358
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.1% · 153
- Two or more races12.9% · 82
- Black or African American4.1% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 16
Popularity
Qais: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Qais 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 216 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Qais remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Qais 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 Qais during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Qais' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Illinois, California, New York recorded the most babies named Qais, while Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Qais
The name Qais is of Arabic origin and has its roots in the ancient Arabic language. It is derived from the word "qaisa," which means "leader" or "chief." The name can be traced back to the pre-Islamic era in the Arabian Peninsula, where it was commonly used among Arab tribes.
One of the earliest mentions of the name Qais can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature. It is said that Qais ibn al-Mulawwah, a renowned pre-Islamic Arab poet, bore this name. He lived in the 6th century CE and is considered one of the most famous poets of the Muallaqat, a collection of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry.
In Islamic history, the name Qais is associated with several notable figures. One of the most prominent is Qais ibn Sa'd ibn Ubadah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a distinguished military leader during the early Muslim conquests. He played a crucial role in the conquest of Syria and the Battle of Yarmouk in the 7th century CE.
Another historical figure with the name Qais is Qais ibn al-Haytham, a renowned Arab mathematician and scientist who lived in the 9th century CE. He is considered one of the pioneers of the scientific method and made significant contributions to the fields of optics and physics.
In later periods, the name Qais was carried by several influential Islamic scholars and poets. Qais al-Razi, a renowned philosopher and physician of the 9th century CE, was one such figure. He wrote extensively on topics ranging from medicine to philosophy and is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age.
Qais ibn al-Khatim, a 10th-century Arab poet and writer, also bore this name. He was known for his mastery of Arabic literature and his works, which focused on themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
Throughout history, the name Qais has been associated with leaders, poets, scholars, and influential figures in the Arab and Islamic world. Its strong linguistic roots and historical significance have made it a popular name choice across various regions and cultures influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic traditions.
People
Qais + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Qais as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Q
Other first names starting with Q with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Qais: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Qais?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 421 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Qais 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 814,143 US residents.
Is Qais a common name?
We classify Qais as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Qais most popular?
The single biggest year for Qais was 2024, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Qais is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Qais in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 635 people with the name Qais, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,398 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 Qais 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 Qais?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Qais appears almost entirely male. Of the 625 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Qais?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Qais is White at 56.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.1%) and Two or More Races (12.9%). 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 Qais most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Qais in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (358 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 Qais in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Qais a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Qais 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 Qais still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Qais 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 Qais 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 share the name Qais?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.