Taheem
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "strong, courageous, or resolute".
Name Census estimates that about 285 living Americans carry the first name Taheem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Taheem today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taheem births was 1991 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taheem. 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 Taheem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
285
~ 1 in 1,202,647 Americans
Peak year
1991
16 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,863
Tracked since 1982
Census
Taheem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 209 people with the first name Taheem, which placed it at #37,369 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
#37,369
National first-name rank
People counted
209
209 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taheem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taheem is Black at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Taheem 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 Taheem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.9% · 146
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.5% · 47
- Two or more races4.8% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 4
- White1.0% · 2
Popularity
Taheem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taheem 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 96 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Taheem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taheem 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 Taheem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taheems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taheem
The name Taheem is of Arabic origin, traced back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic root word "haim," which means "to wander" or "to roam." The name's earliest known use was in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in regions like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman.
In Islamic tradition, the name Taheem holds significant importance. It is believed to be one of the names of Allah (God) mentioned in the Qur'an, although scholars have differing interpretations of its precise meaning within the religious text. Some associate it with the divine attribute of "The Protector" or "The Guardian."
The earliest recorded bearer of the name Taheem was Taheem ibn Habib al-Nufayli, a renowned Arab poet and warrior who lived during the 7th century CE. He was known for his contributions to early Arabic literature and his valor in battles fought during the Islamic conquests.
Throughout history, the name Taheem has been carried by several notable figures across the Arab world. One such figure was Taheem al-Mutanabbi, a celebrated Arab poet from the 10th century CE, renowned for his eloquent and influential works. His poetry is still studied and revered in the Arab literary tradition.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Taheem ibn Ali al-Qurashi, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from the 11th century CE. He was a leading figure in the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence and authored several influential works on Islamic law.
In the 13th century CE, Taheem al-Mustansir was the Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad, ruling from 1242 to 1258 CE. His reign witnessed significant political upheaval and the eventual fall of the Abbasid Caliphate to the Mongol invasion led by Hulagu Khan.
Another notable figure was Taheem al-Dayrani, a Syrian scholar and poet who lived in the 17th century CE. He was renowned for his contributions to Arabic literature and his mastery of various poetic forms.
While the name Taheem has been predominantly used in the Arab world, it has also been adopted by Muslim communities in other regions, such as South Asia and parts of Africa, reflecting the cultural and religious influence of the Arab world in these areas.
People
Taheem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taheem as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Taheem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taheem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taheem 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 1,202,647 US residents.
Is Taheem a common name?
We classify Taheem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taheem most popular?
The single biggest year for Taheem was 1991, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taheem is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taheem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 209 people with the name Taheem, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,369 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 Taheem 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 Taheem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taheem appears almost entirely male. Of the 211 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 Taheem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taheem is Black at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Taheem most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Taheem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (146 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 Taheem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taheem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taheem 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 Taheem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taheem 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 Taheem 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 Taheem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.