Quran
Sacred book of Islam believed to be revealed by God.
Name Census estimates that about 1,939 living Americans carry the first name Quran. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Quran today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Quran births was 1997 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Quran. 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.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 176,769 Americans
Peak year
1997
89 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,567
Tracked since 1971
Census
Quran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,311 people with the first name Quran, which placed it at #10,252 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
#10,252
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,311 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Quran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quran is Black at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Quran 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 Quran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.9% · 1,165
- Two or more races4.8% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 52
- White1.6% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Quran
Quran leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 34 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Quran as a male name
- Ranked #3,567 in 2024
- 32 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (89 births)
Quran as a female name
- Ranked #11,129 in 1999
- 8 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1999 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Quran leans strongly male. 1,238 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 72 female bearers (5.5%).
Popularity
Quran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Quran from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 631 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
Quran 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 Quran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Qurans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Quran, while Virginia, Ohio, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Quran
The given name Quran has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "qara'a," which means "to read" or "to recite." This name is intrinsically linked to the holy book of Islam, the Quran, which is considered the sacred scripture and the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
The name Quran first appeared in the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the revelation of the Quran. The Quran itself is believed to have been compiled and canonized during the reign of the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, in the mid-7th century CE. As such, the name Quran holds immense significance in Islamic history and culture.
In Islamic tradition, the name Quran is often given to children as a way of honoring the sacred text and instilling a reverence for the teachings of Islam. Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Quran.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Quran is Quran ibn Abi Nasr al-Katib (870-920 CE), a renowned Arabic calligrapher and scholar from Baghdad. His exceptional calligraphic skills contributed significantly to the preservation and dissemination of the Quran.
Another notable figure was Quran ibn al-Ashath (d. 884 CE), a prominent Muslim jurist and scholar from Basra, Iraq. He was highly respected for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the field of hadith (prophetic traditions).
In the 11th century, Quran ibn Yahya al-Maliki (d. 1035 CE) was a distinguished Islamic scholar and poet from Malaga, Spain. He was renowned for his mastery of Arabic literature and his poetic works, which often drew inspiration from the Quran.
During the 12th century, Quran ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 1192 CE) was a celebrated Islamic scholar and theologian from Bukhara, now in present-day Uzbekistan. He was revered for his extensive knowledge of Islamic sciences and his commentaries on the Quran.
In more recent times, Quran Majeed (1924-2008) was a renowned Pakistani Islamic scholar and philosopher. He was widely respected for his efforts in promoting Islamic education and his interpretations of the Quran.
While the name Quran is predominantly associated with the Islamic faith, it has also been adopted by individuals of other religious backgrounds, particularly in regions with significant Muslim influence. The name serves as a testament to the profound impact of the Quran on various cultures and its enduring legacy throughout history.
People
Quran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Quran 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
Quran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Quran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,939 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Quran 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 176,769 US residents.
Is Quran a common name?
We classify Quran as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,976 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Quran most popular?
The single biggest year for Quran was 1997, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Quran is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Quran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,311 people with the name Quran, or 0.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,252 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 Quran 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 Quran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Quran leans strongly male. 1,238 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 72 female bearers (5.5%). 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 Quran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Quran is Black at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Quran most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Quran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (1,165 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 Quran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Quran a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Quran 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 Quran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Quran 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 Quran 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 called Quran?
You can see how many people share the name Quran on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.