Rohail
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "a nocturnal walker" or "night wanderer".
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Rohail. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rohail today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rohail births was 2007 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rohail. 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 Rohail with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
2007
10 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,689
Tracked since 1991
Census
Rohail in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 220 people with the first name Rohail, which placed it at #36,203 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
#36,203
National first-name rank
People counted
220
220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rohail
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rohail is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Rohail 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 Rohail at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.4% · 201
- White4.5% · 10
- Two or more races2.7% · 6
- Black or African American0.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 1
Popularity
Rohail: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rohail from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 43 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Rohail remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rohail 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 Rohail during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rohail
The name Rohail is of Arabic origin and is believed to have its roots in the ancient Semitic languages spoken in the Middle East. It is derived from the Arabic word "rawha," which means "garden" or "paradise." The name is thought to have emerged during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century CE.
In the context of Islamic culture, the name Rohail is often associated with the idea of a beautiful and serene garden, reflecting the importance of nature and tranquility in Islamic teachings. The name may have been inspired by the descriptions of paradise found in the Quran, where lush gardens and flowing streams are mentioned as rewards for the righteous.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rohail can be found in the biographical works of the renowned Islamic scholar and historian, Ibn Khallikan, who lived in the 13th century. He mentions a notable scholar and poet named Rohail ibn Abi al-Qasim, who lived during the 10th century CE.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Rohail. One of the most famous is Rohail Khateeb, a renowned Islamic scholar and preacher from the 11th century CE, known for his eloquent sermons and teachings on Islamic ethics and spirituality.
Another notable figure is Rohail Deen, a prominent Indian Muslim scholar and educator from the 16th century CE, who is credited with establishing several educational institutions and promoting the study of Arabic and Persian literature.
In the literary realm, Rohail Ghani was a celebrated Urdu poet and writer from the 19th century CE, known for his contributions to the development of modern Urdu poetry and his profound insights on human emotions and experiences.
The name Rohail also gained prominence in the realm of politics. Rohail Khurshid was a prominent Pakistani politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the late 20th century, playing a significant role in shaping the country's foreign policy.
Rohail Amin, an Afghan military commander and political figure from the 20th century, is another noteworthy individual who bore this name. He played a crucial role in the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s and later served as the Governor of Nangarhar Province.
People
Rohail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rohail 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
Rohail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rohail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rohail 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 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Rohail a common name?
We classify Rohail as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rohail most popular?
The single biggest year for Rohail was 2007, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rohail is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rohail in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 220 people with the name Rohail, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,203 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 Rohail 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 Rohail?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rohail appears almost entirely male. Of the 220 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Rohail?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rohail is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Rohail most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rohail in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (201 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 Rohail in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rohail a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rohail 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 Rohail still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rohail 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 Rohail 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 Rohail?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Rohail at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.