Sajjad
One who prostrates himself frequently (devoutly practicing Muslim).
Name Census estimates that about 156 living Americans carry the first name Sajjad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sajjad today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sajjad births was 2003 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sajjad. 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 Sajjad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
156
~ 1 in 2,197,143 Americans
Peak year
2003
11 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,584
Tracked since 1987
Census
Sajjad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,100 people with the first name Sajjad, which placed it at #11,591 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
#11,591
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,100 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
66.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sajjad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sajjad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Sajjad 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 Sajjad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander66.9% · 736
- White24.5% · 270
- Two or more races5.5% · 61
- Black or African American2.4% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 7
Popularity
Sajjad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sajjad 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 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sajjad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sajjad 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 Sajjad 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 Sajjad
The name Sajjad has its roots in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "sajada," which means "to prostrate" or "to bow down in prayer." This name holds significant religious and cultural significance in the Islamic tradition.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sajjad can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the early days of Islam. It is believed that the name was first given to Imam Sajjad, who was the fourth Imam in the Shia Islamic tradition and the son of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Imam Sajjad, whose full name was Ali ibn Husayn, was born in Medina in 659 CE and is revered for his piety, knowledge, and devotion to prayer. He is also known as Zain al-Abideen, which means "the ornament of the worshippers." His life and teachings are recorded in various Islamic texts and historical accounts, solidifying the name's association with religious devotion and spirituality.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sajjad. One of the most renowned was Sajjad al-Sawi, a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar who lived in the 13th century CE. He was known for his contributions to Islamic philosophy and his teachings on the spiritual path.
Another prominent figure was Sajjad Hussain Rizvi, an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. He was born in 1890 and was actively involved in the Kakori conspiracy case, which aimed to overthrow British rule through armed resistance.
In the realm of literature, Sajjad Zaheer, an Urdu writer and communist activist, made a significant impact. Born in 1905, he was a prominent figure in the Progressive Writers' Movement and wrote novels, short stories, and essays that explored social and political themes.
The name Sajjad has also been carried by notable scholars and intellectuals, such as Sajjad Husain Malik, a Pakistani educationist and scholar who contributed significantly to the development of education in Pakistan. He was born in 1915 and served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peshawar.
Lastly, Sajjad Akhtar, a Pakistani cricketer, represented the national team in the 1970s and 1980s. Born in 1944, he played as a right-handed batsman and was part of the Pakistani team that won the 1978 Cricket World Cup.
People
Sajjad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sajjad as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sajjad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sajjad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sajjad 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 2,197,143 US residents.
Is Sajjad a common name?
We classify Sajjad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sajjad most popular?
The single biggest year for Sajjad was 2003, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sajjad is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sajjad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,100 people with the name Sajjad, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,591 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 Sajjad 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 Sajjad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sajjad appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,102 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Sajjad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sajjad is Asian/Pacific Islander at 66.9%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Sajjad most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sajjad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.9% (736 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 Sajjad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sajjad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sajjad 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 Sajjad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sajjad 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 Sajjad 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 called Sajjad?
You can see how many people share the name Sajjad on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.