Ramadan
An Arabic name referring to the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
Name Census estimates that about 292 living Americans carry the first name Ramadan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ramadan today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ramadan births was 2016 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ramadan. 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 Ramadan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
292
~ 1 in 1,173,816 Americans
Peak year
2016
15 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,781
Tracked since 1976
Census
Ramadan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 630 people with the first name Ramadan, which placed it at #17,487 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
#17,487
National first-name rank
People counted
630
630 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ramadan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramadan is White at 58.3%. The next largest groups are Black (36.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Ramadan 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 Ramadan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.3% · 367
- Black or African American36.2% · 228
- Two or more races2.4% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 10
Popularity
Ramadan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ramadan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ramadan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ramadan 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 Ramadan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ramadan
The name Ramadan originates from the Arabic language and is derived from the Arabic root word "ramida" which means "to be scorched" or "to be burned." It refers to the intense heat of summer, which is when the Islamic holy month of Ramadan typically falls. The name is inextricably linked to the Islamic faith and the observance of the month-long period of fasting, spiritual reflection, and increased devotion.
Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, and the month-long fast during this time is obligatory for all healthy adult Muslims. The name is mentioned numerous times in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, which provides guidance on the rituals and practices associated with this sacred month.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ramadan can be traced back to the 7th century CE when Islam emerged in the Arabian Peninsula. It was during this time that the Prophet Muhammad and his followers established the tradition of fasting during the month of Ramadan, which remains a fundamental aspect of Islamic practice to this day.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Ramadan. One of the earliest was Ramadan al-Shami (born around 850 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Damascus who made significant contributions to the study of Sharia law. Another notable figure was Ramadan ibn al-Muʿtazz (born around 892 CE), an Abbasid prince and poet known for his exceptional literary talents.
In more recent times, Ramadan Shallah (1938-2020) was a prominent Palestinian political figure who served as the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. Ramadan Ajaib (born 1968) is a Sudanese footballer who played for several clubs in the Middle East and Africa during his career.
Another notable individual with the name Ramadan is Ramadan Sobhi (born 1997), an Egyptian professional footballer who currently plays for Pyramids FC in the Egyptian Premier League and the Egyptian national team.
While the name Ramadan has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition, it has also gained popularity across various cultures and regions, particularly in areas with significant Muslim populations. However, it remains deeply tied to its religious and cultural origins, serving as a constant reminder of the spiritual significance of the Islamic holy month.
People
Ramadan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ramadan 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
Ramadan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ramadan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ramadan 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 1,173,816 US residents.
Is Ramadan a common name?
We classify Ramadan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 298 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ramadan most popular?
The single biggest year for Ramadan was 2016, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ramadan is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ramadan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 630 people with the name Ramadan, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,487 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 Ramadan 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 Ramadan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ramadan leans strongly male. 621 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 12 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Ramadan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ramadan is White at 58.3%. The next largest groups are Black (36.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Ramadan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ramadan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.3% (367 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 Ramadan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ramadan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ramadan 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 Ramadan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ramadan 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 Ramadan 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 Ramadan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.