Quasim
An Arabic name meaning "the one who distributes fairly or equally".
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the first name Quasim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Quasim today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Quasim births was 1996 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Quasim. 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 Quasim with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
135
~ 1 in 2,538,921 Americans
Peak year
1996
12 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,622
Tracked since 1981
Census
Quasim in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Quasim, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quasim
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quasim is Black at 79.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Quasim 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 Quasim at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.1% · 129
- White6.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 6
- Two or more races3.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Quasim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Quasim 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 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Quasim 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 Quasim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Quasims live
Origin
Meaning and history of Quasim
The name Quasim is derived from the Arabic word "qasim," which means "distributor" or "divider." It has its roots in the ancient Semitic languages and is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the early days of Islam.
The name gained widespread recognition in the 7th century CE, when the Islamic empire was rapidly expanding across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Asia. During this period, Quasim was a relatively common name among Arab Muslims, particularly in regions like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Syria.
One of the earliest and most notable historical figures with the name Quasim was Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr (699-737 CE), a prominent Arab general and the son of the Umayyad caliph Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. He played a crucial role in the Muslim conquest of Sindh (present-day Pakistan) and is revered as a significant figure in Islamic history.
Another notable bearer of the name was Qasim al-Nuri (1825-1892), a renowned Ottoman scholar, poet, and theologian. He was born in Baghdad and is celebrated for his contributions to Islamic literature and scholarship.
In the modern era, one of the most famous individuals with the name Quasim was Qasim Amin (1863-1908), an Egyptian writer and jurist who was a pioneering advocate for women's rights and social reform in the Arab world. His influential works, such as "The Liberation of Women" and "The New Woman," helped shape the discourse on women's emancipation in the Middle East.
Muhammad Qasim (1914-1977), a Pakistani military officer, was another prominent figure with the name Quasim. He served as the President of Pakistan from 1965 to 1969 and played a pivotal role in the country's political landscape during a turbulent period.
In literature, Qasim Amin Bey (1865-1908), an Egyptian jurist and writer, is remembered for his influential works on women's rights and social reform. His novels and essays, including "The Liberation of Women" and "The New Woman," were instrumental in shaping the discourse on women's emancipation in the Arab world.
While the name Quasim has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has also been adopted by people of various backgrounds and ethnicities around the world, reflecting the global reach and influence of the Islamic civilization throughout history.
People
Quasim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Quasim 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
Quasim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Quasim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 135 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Quasim 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 2,538,921 US residents.
Is Quasim a common name?
We classify Quasim as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Quasim most popular?
The single biggest year for Quasim was 1996, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Quasim is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Quasim in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Quasim, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Quasim 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 Quasim?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Quasim appears almost entirely male. Of the 162 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Quasim?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quasim is Black at 79.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Quasim most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Quasim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (129 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 Quasim in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Quasim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Quasim 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 Quasim still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Quasim 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 Quasim 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 named Quasim?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.