Rahaman
A masculine Arabic name meaning "The Most Gracious One" (referring to God).
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Rahaman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rahaman today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rahaman births was 1971 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rahaman. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Rahaman. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1971
6 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1976 SSA rank
#6,268
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Rahaman: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Rahaman 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 Rahaman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Rahaman
The name Rahaman has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a variation of the name Rahman, which is derived from the Arabic word "rahma," meaning mercy or compassion. The name Rahaman is believed to have emerged around the 7th century, during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Arabic, the name Rahaman is often associated with the attributes of God, who is referred to as "Ar-Rahman" in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The name signifies the merciful and compassionate nature of the divine, and it is commonly given to boys as a way of invoking God's blessings upon them.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Rahaman can be found in historical texts and records from the Middle East and North Africa, where Arabic culture and language were prevalent. Some notable figures in Islamic history who bore the name Rahaman include:
1. Rahaman ibn Abi Bakr (626-686 CE): A prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the early Islamic scholars.
2. Rahaman al-Ghafiki (1058-1144 CE): A renowned Andalusian poet and literary figure from the Islamic Golden Age in Spain.
3. Rahaman al-Jawhari (1009-1093 CE): A celebrated Arabic philologist and lexicographer, best known for his monumental dictionary, "Al-Sihah fi al-Lughah."
4. Rahaman al-Jami (1414-1492 CE): A Persian poet, scholar, and Sufi mystic who made significant contributions to the literary and spiritual traditions of the Islamic world.
5. Rahaman Khan (1653-1711 CE): A Mughal military commander and governor in the Indian subcontinent, known for his campaigns against the Marathas.
The name Rahaman has also found its way into other cultures and languages, particularly those influenced by Islam or Arabic culture. In regions like South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa, variations of the name Rahaman can be found, reflecting the spread of Islamic influence and the adoption of Arabic names.
People
Rahaman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rahaman as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rahaman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rahaman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rahaman 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Rahaman a common name?
We classify Rahaman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rahaman most popular?
The single biggest year for Rahaman was 1971, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rahaman is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Rahaman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rahaman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rahaman 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 Rahaman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rahaman 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 Rahaman 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Rahaman?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.