Rashard
A masculine Arabic name meaning "well-guided" or "righteous".
Name Census estimates that about 2,629 living Americans carry the first name Rashard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rashard today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashard births was 1994 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashard. 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 Rashard with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 130,374 Americans
Peak year
1994
97 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,783
Tracked since 1974
Census
Rashard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,005 people with the first name Rashard, which placed it at #7,564 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
#7,564
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,005 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashard is Black at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Rashard 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 Rashard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.3% · 1,850
- Two or more races3.1% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 41
- White1.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 9
Popularity
Rashard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashard 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 769 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
Rashard 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 Rashard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Florida, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Rashard, while Tennessee, Mississippi, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 97 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashard
The name Rashard is thought to have originated from the Arabic name Rashad, which means "rightly guided" or "on the right path." The name can be traced back to the Arabic language and culture, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the 7th century CE during the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa.
Variations of the name Rashad, such as Rashard, likely emerged as the name spread to other regions and cultures, resulting in slight alterations in spelling and pronunciation. However, the core meaning and essence of the name remained largely unchanged.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rashard can be found in the historical records of the Umayyad Caliphate, where a prominent scholar and jurist named Rashard ibn Muawiyah lived during the late 7th century CE. His contributions to the fields of Islamic jurisprudence and legal theory earned him widespread recognition and respect.
In the 12th century, a renowned Persian poet and mystic named Rashard al-Din Samarkandi gained fame for his literary works and spiritual teachings. His poetry and writings were widely celebrated and continue to be studied and appreciated by scholars and literary enthusiasts to this day.
During the 14th century, a notable Islamic scholar and theologian named Rashard al-Din al-Simnani made significant contributions to the study of Islamic philosophy and theology. His works, particularly in the field of Sufism, had a lasting impact on the intellectual and spiritual landscape of the time.
In more recent history, Rashard Morgan, an American singer and songwriter born in 1976, gained popularity for his contributions to the R&B and neo-soul music genres. His soulful vocals and introspective lyrics garnered critical acclaim and a dedicated fan base.
Another notable figure with the name Rashard is Rashard Lewis, an American professional basketball player born in 1979. Lewis had a successful career in the NBA, playing for teams such as the Seattle SuperSonics and the Orlando Magic, and was known for his versatile scoring abilities and leadership on the court.
While the name Rashard may have evolved and taken on different spellings over time, its Arabic roots and the meaning of being "rightly guided" or "on the right path" have remained a consistent thread throughout its history, making it a name with a rich cultural and linguistic heritage.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rashard
People
Rashard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashard 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
Rashard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,629 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashard 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 130,374 US residents.
Is Rashard a common name?
We classify Rashard as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,701 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashard most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashard was 1994, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashard is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,005 people with the name Rashard, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,564 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 Rashard 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 Rashard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashard appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,008 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Rashard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashard is Black at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Rashard most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rashard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (1,850 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 Rashard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashard 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 Rashard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashard 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 Rashard 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 common is the name Rashard?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Rashard on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.