Rasul
A masculine Arabic name meaning "messenger" or "apostle".
Name Census estimates that about 389 living Americans carry the first name Rasul. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rasul today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rasul births was 1994 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rasul. 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 Rasul with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
389
~ 1 in 881,117 Americans
Peak year
1994
14 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,716
Tracked since 1975
Census
Rasul in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 439 people with the first name Rasul, which placed it at #22,609 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
#22,609
National first-name rank
People counted
439
439 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rasul
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasul is Black at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (27.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%). 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 Rasul 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 Rasul at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.4% · 208
- White27.6% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.3% · 54
- Two or more races8.4% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Rasul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rasul 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 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Rasul remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rasul 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 Rasul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rasuls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rasul
The name Rasul has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "rasul," which means "messenger" or "prophet." The name is closely associated with the Islamic faith and the belief in the divine messengers sent by God.
In Islamic tradition, the title "Rasul" is bestowed upon the prophets who received revelations from God and were entrusted with the task of conveying His message to humanity. The most prominent bearer of this title is Prophet Muhammad, who is regarded as the last messenger of God in Islam.
The name Rasul can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when Islam emerged in the Arabian Peninsula. It gained significance during the spread of Islam across the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions. The name is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and is often used to refer to the prophets who brought God's message to their respective communities.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Rasul is found in the life of Rasul ibn al-Hadrami, a companion of Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century CE. Another notable figure was Rasul al-Ghifari, a famous Islamic scholar and jurist who lived in the 8th century CE.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have borne the name Rasul, including:
1. Rasul Gamzatov (1923-2003), a renowned Russian poet and writer of Avar descent, known for his works celebrating the beauty of the Caucasus region.
2. Rasul Mirzayev (1915-1974), a Soviet military commander who played a crucial role in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II.
3. Rasul Bakhsh Rais (1857-1921), a prominent Muslim scholar and reformer from British India, known for his efforts to promote modern education and women's rights.
4. Rasul Khuzhanazarov (1925-2012), a Uzbek film director and screenwriter known for his contributions to Soviet and Uzbek cinema.
5. Rasul Guliyev (born 1950), a former Speaker of the National Assembly and opposition leader in Azerbaijan.
The name Rasul continues to hold cultural and religious significance, particularly among Muslim communities around the world. It serves as a reminder of the important role of prophets and messengers in the Islamic faith and the responsibility of conveying divine teachings to humanity.
People
Rasul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rasul 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
Rasul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rasul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 389 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rasul 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 881,117 US residents.
Is Rasul a common name?
We classify Rasul as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rasul most popular?
The single biggest year for Rasul was 1994, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rasul is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rasul in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 439 people with the name Rasul, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,609 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 Rasul 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 Rasul?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rasul leans strongly male. 432 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 10 female bearers (2.3%). 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 Rasul?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rasul is Black at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (27.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.3%). 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 Rasul most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rasul in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (208 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 Rasul in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rasul a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rasul 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 Rasul still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rasul 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 Rasul 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 share the name Rasul?
Want to know how many people have the name Rasul? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.