Taqwa
An Arabic name meaning piety, consciousness of God.
Name Census estimates that about 191 living Americans carry the first name Taqwa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Taqwa today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taqwa births was 2024 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taqwa. 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 Taqwa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
191
~ 1 in 1,794,525 Americans
Peak year
2024
22 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,753
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Taqwa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taqwa from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 89 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taqwa 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 Taqwa 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 Taqwa
The name Taqwa has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "taqwa," which means piety, righteousness, or consciousness of God. The name carries a profound religious and spiritual significance in the Islamic faith.
Taqwa is mentioned numerous times in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as a virtue to be cultivated by believers. It is considered a fundamental principle in Islamic teachings, emphasizing the importance of having a deep reverence for God and striving to live a life in accordance with His commandments.
The earliest recorded use of the name Taqwa can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the early Muslim community. It was a common practice among Muslims to name their children with names that reflected their religious beliefs and values, and Taqwa was a name that embodied this principle.
Throughout Islamic history, several notable figures have borne the name Taqwa, including:
1. Taqwa bint Umair (died 683 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the early female scholars of Islam.
2. Taqwa al-Nuri (1542-1610), an Ottoman scholar and mystic known for his contributions to Islamic philosophy and Sufism.
3. Taqwa Musawi (1944-1988), an Iranian Shia cleric and revolutionary who played a prominent role in the Iranian Revolution of 1979.
4. Taqwa Bakr (born 1964), an Egyptian writer and journalist who has published several works on Islamic themes and women's issues.
5. Taqwa Ayyub (born 1976), a Palestinian-American activist and advocate for Palestinian human rights.
The name Taqwa has continued to be popular among Muslims worldwide, serving as a reminder of the importance of spiritual devotion and righteousness in their daily lives. It is a name that carries a rich heritage and holds a significant place in the Islamic tradition.
People
Taqwa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taqwa 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
Taqwa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taqwa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 191 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taqwa 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 1,794,525 US residents.
Is Taqwa a common name?
We classify Taqwa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taqwa most popular?
The single biggest year for Taqwa was 2024, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taqwa is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Taqwa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taqwa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taqwa 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 Taqwa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taqwa 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 Taqwa 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Taqwa?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.