Rashun
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "wise" or "prudent".
Name Census estimates that about 564 living Americans carry the first name Rashun. It is a predominantly male name (96.9% of registrations). The average person named Rashun today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashun births was 1979 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashun. 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
564
~ 1 in 607,720 Americans
Peak year
1979
24 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,542
Tracked since 1973
Census
Rashun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 449 people with the first name Rashun, which placed it at #22,241 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
#22,241
National first-name rank
People counted
449
449 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashun is Black at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Rashun 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 Rashun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.1% · 427
- Two or more races3.1% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 7
- White0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Rashun
Rashun leans heavily male at 96.9% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Rashun as a male name
- Ranked #10,542 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1998 (24 births)
Rashun as a female name
- Ranked #14,658 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1979 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashun leans strongly male. 384 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 63 female bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Rashun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashun 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 171 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
Rashun 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 Rashun during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashuns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Alabama, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Rashun, while Tennessee, New York, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashun
The name Rashun has its roots in the ancient Middle Eastern region, originating from the Arabic language. It is believed to have derived from the word "Rashid," which means "rightly guided" or "following the right path." This name first appeared in historical records during the 7th century AD, coinciding with the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rashun was a prominent scholar and poet who lived during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century AD. Known for his contributions to Arabic literature, his works have been preserved and studied by scholars throughout the centuries.
In the 11th century, a renowned Islamic philosopher and theologian named Rashun al-Baghdadi made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence. His writings and teachings influenced generations of scholars and thinkers across the Muslim world.
During the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from the 13th to the 20th century, the name Rashun was also found among the ranks of military leaders and administrators. One such figure was Rashun Pasha, a high-ranking Ottoman official who served as the governor of several provinces in the 16th century.
In more recent times, the name Rashun has been carried by notable individuals in various fields. Rashun Naveed, an accomplished Pakistani cricketer who played for the national team in the late 20th century, was known for his exceptional batting skills and sportsmanship.
Another notable figure was Rashun Al-Khair, a Syrian-born philanthropist and humanitarian activist who dedicated his life to providing aid and support to underprivileged communities in the Middle East during the latter half of the 20th century.
While the name Rashun has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been adopted by various communities across the globe, each lending their unique cultural interpretations and variations to its pronunciation and spelling.
People
Rashun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashun 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
Rashun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 564 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashun 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 607,720 US residents.
Is Rashun a common name?
We classify Rashun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 582 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashun most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashun was 1979, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashun is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 449 people with the name Rashun, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,241 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 Rashun 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 Rashun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashun leans strongly male. 384 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 63 female bearers (14.1%). 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 Rashun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashun is Black at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (1.6%). 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 Rashun most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rashun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (427 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 Rashun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashun a male name?
Yes, 96.9% of people registered as Rashun 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 Rashun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashun 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 Rashun 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 have Rashun as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Rashun on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.