Rasool
A masculine Arabic name meaning "messenger" or "prophet".
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the first name Rasool. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rasool today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rasool births was 1977 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rasool. 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
115
~ 1 in 2,980,473 Americans
Peak year
1977
19 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2017 SSA rank
#11,876
Tracked since 1976
Census
Rasool in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 300 people with the first name Rasool, which placed it at #29,484 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
#29,484
National first-name rank
People counted
300
300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rasool
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasool is Black at 41.3%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.3%). 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 Rasool 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 Rasool at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.3% · 124
- White33.0% · 99
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.3% · 43
- Two or more races10.0% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 4
Popularity
Rasool: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rasool from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 53 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Rasool remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rasool 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 Rasool during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rasools live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rasool
The given name Rasool has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, dating back to the 7th century AD. It is derived from the Arabic word "rasul," which means "messenger" or "envoy." The name is closely associated with the Islamic belief that prophets were chosen by God to convey divine messages to humanity.
Rasool is a name highly revered in Islamic tradition, as it is one of the titles bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad, who is considered the last messenger of God in the Islamic faith. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, refers to Prophet Muhammad as "Rasool Allah," meaning "the Messenger of God."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rasool can be found in the Quran itself, where it is used to refer to Prophet Muhammad and other prophets who came before him, such as Moses and Jesus. The name is deeply rooted in Islamic theology and holds significant spiritual and historical significance for Muslims worldwide.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rasool. One of the most prominent was Rasool Gamzatov (1923-2003), a renowned Avar poet from Dagestan, Russia. He was widely celebrated for his poetry that celebrated the beauty of his homeland and the resilience of the human spirit.
Another notable individual was Rasool Mir (1910-1970), a Pakistani writer and poet who was a prominent figure in the literary scene of South Asia. His works explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary.
In the realm of politics, Rasool Bakhsh Palijo (1910-1995) was a prominent Pakistani politician and activist who played a significant role in the independence movement of Pakistan. He served as the first Chief Minister of Sindh province after the partition of India.
Rasool Gallyev (1892-1977) was a Tatar revolutionary and writer who advocated for the independence of the Tatar people from the Soviet Union. He was a key figure in the Tatar national movement and spent many years in exile and imprisonment for his political activities.
Rasool Puri (1877-1944) was an Indian Muslim scholar and writer who made significant contributions to the study of Islamic mysticism and Sufism. His works explored the spiritual and philosophical dimensions of Islam and were widely influential in the subcontinent.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Rasool throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted significance in Islamic culture and the diverse backgrounds of those who have carried this name.
People
Rasool + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rasool 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
Rasool: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rasool?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 115 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rasool 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 2,980,473 US residents.
Is Rasool a common name?
We classify Rasool as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rasool most popular?
The single biggest year for Rasool was 1977, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rasool is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rasool in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 300 people with the name Rasool, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,484 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 Rasool 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 Rasool?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasool leans strongly male. 283 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 14 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Rasool?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasool is Black at 41.3%. The next largest groups are White (33.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.3%). 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 Rasool most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rasool in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.3% (124 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 Rasool in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rasool a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rasool 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 Rasool still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rasool 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 Rasool 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 Rasool?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.