Rashaan
A masculine Arabic name meaning "right, just, or rightly guided".
Name Census estimates that about 1,165 living Americans carry the first name Rashaan. It is a predominantly male name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Rashaan today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashaan births was 1995 (140 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashaan. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 294,210 Americans
Peak year
1995
140 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,634
Tracked since 1971
Gender
Gender distribution for Rashaan
Rashaan leans heavily male at 97.7% of total registrations, but 28 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rashaan as a male name
- Ranked #10,634 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (140 births)
Rashaan as a female name
- Ranked #11,441 in 1979
- 5 female births in 1979
- Peak: 1976 (7 births)
Popularity
Rashaan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashaan 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 411 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
Rashaan 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 Rashaan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashaans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Rashaan, while Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashaan
The name Rashaan is of Arabic origin and is derived from the word "rashan," which means "to move with grace or elegance." It has its roots in the ancient Middle Eastern culture and can be traced back to the 7th century CE.
The name Rashaan gained popularity during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of remarkable cultural and scientific achievements. It was often associated with scholars, poets, and artists who embodied the principles of beauty and refinement. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the works of the renowned Persian poet Rumi, who lived from 1207 to 1273 CE.
In the 14th century, a celebrated Arabian philosopher and astronomer named Rashaan al-Qadri made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and astronomy. His works on celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits were highly influential during his time and beyond.
During the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 13th to the 20th century, the name Rashaan was particularly favored among the elite and noble families. One notable figure was Rashaan Pasha, a military commander who played a pivotal role in the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in the late 16th century.
In the 19th century, Rashaan Ibn Khalil was a renowned Egyptian scholar and linguist who made invaluable contributions to the study of Arabic grammar and literature. His treatises on the Arabic language became influential references for generations of scholars.
Another notable figure who bore the name Rashaan was Rashaan Al-Shamlan, a Kuwaiti writer and poet who lived from 1924 to 1994. His works, which explored themes of identity and cultural heritage, were widely celebrated in the Arab world and beyond.
People
Rashaan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashaan 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
Rashaan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashaan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,165 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashaan 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 294,210 US residents.
Is Rashaan a common name?
We classify Rashaan as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashaan most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashaan was 1995, when 140 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashaan is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rashaan a male name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Rashaan 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.
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.