Reham
An Arabic feminine name meaning "merciful" or "compassionate".
Name Census estimates that about 373 living Americans carry the first name Reham. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Reham today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Reham births was 2018 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Reham. 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 Reham with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
373
~ 1 in 918,912 Americans
Peak year
2018
19 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,076
Tracked since 1985
Census
Reham in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 958 people with the first name Reham, which placed it at #12,822 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
#12,822
National first-name rank
People counted
958
958 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reham
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reham is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Reham 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 Reham at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.3% · 817
- Two or more races5.4% · 52
- Black or African American5.0% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Reham: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Reham from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 149 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Reham remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Reham 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 Reham during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rehams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Reham
The name Reham has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "rahima," which means "to have mercy" or "to be compassionate." This name gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa regions where Arabic is widely spoken.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Reham can be found in ancient Arabic literature and poetry. It was often used as a poetic term to describe someone with a kind and merciful nature. The name held significance in the Islamic faith, as compassion and mercy are highly valued virtues in the religion.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Reham. One of the earliest recorded figures was Reham al-Basri (642-728 CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Basra, Iraq. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic law and her contributions to the study of hadith (the sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad).
Another prominent figure was Reham Khansa (575-646 CE), an influential Arab poet from the pre-Islamic era. She was renowned for her elegies and her poetic prowess, which earned her the title "The Princess of Arab Poets." Her poetry often touched upon themes of loss, grief, and the strength of the human spirit.
In the 12th century, Reham al-Din al-Suyuti (1445-1505 CE) was a renowned Egyptian scholar, jurist, and polymath. He made significant contributions to various fields, including Islamic jurisprudence, Quranic exegesis, and Arabic grammar. His works were widely studied and revered in the Islamic world.
During the Ottoman Empire, Reham Sultan (1642-1714) was a prominent figure in the imperial harem. She was the consort of Sultan Mehmed IV and had a significant influence on the political affairs of the empire during her lifetime.
In more recent times, Reham Khan (born 1973) is a Pakistani journalist, broadcaster, and former wife of the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. She gained prominence for her work in television and her involvement in political and humanitarian causes.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Reham. While the name has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, it has transcended borders and has been embraced by people from various backgrounds and ethnicities around the world.
People
Reham + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Reham 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
Reham: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Reham?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 373 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Reham 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 918,912 US residents.
Is Reham a common name?
We classify Reham as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 378 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Reham most popular?
The single biggest year for Reham was 2018, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Reham is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Reham in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 958 people with the name Reham, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,822 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 Reham 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 Reham?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Reham leans strongly female. 942 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 20 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Reham?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Reham is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.4%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Reham most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Reham in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.3% (817 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 Reham in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Reham a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Reham in the SSA data are female. 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 Reham still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Reham 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 Reham 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 Reham?
Want to know how many Americans are named Reham? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.