Ubah
Of Arabic origin meaning to return or repent.
Name Census estimates that about 77 living Americans carry the first name Ubah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ubah today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ubah births was 2013 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ubah. 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 Ubah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ubah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
77
~ 1 in 4,451,355 Americans
Peak year
2013
8 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,150
Tracked since 2000
Census
Ubah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 598 people with the first name Ubah, which placed it at #18,116 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
#18,116
National first-name rank
People counted
598
598 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
98.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ubah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ubah is Black at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.7%). 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 Ubah 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 Ubah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American98.0% · 586
- Two or more races0.8% · 5
- White0.7% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Ubah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ubah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 45 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ubah 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 Ubah 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 Ubah
The name Ubah has its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word 'ubah', which means 'fragrance' or 'perfume'. The name's roots can be traced back to the 7th century, when Arabic culture and language flourished in the Middle East.
Ubah is a name with deep cultural and historical significance. In Islamic literature, Ubah is mentioned as the name of one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known for her piety and devotion to the faith. Ubah was also the name of a famous Arabian poetess who lived in the 6th century AD and was renowned for her eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ubah can be found in the ancient Arabic text, 'Al-Aghani', which is a collection of biographies of famous singers and musicians from the 8th and 9th centuries. The text mentions a singer named Ubah bint Malik, who was famous for her beautiful voice and performances.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ubah. One such example is Ubah bint al-Walid, a 7th century Arabian woman who was known for her bravery and courage during the early Islamic conquests. Another notable figure was Ubah bint Abi al-Jahm, a 7th century Muslim woman who was one of the first female converts to Islam and a close companion of the Prophet Muhammad.
In the 12th century, there was a famous female Muslim scholar and poet named Ubah bint al-Qadi al-Marrakushi, who hailed from Morocco. She was renowned for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and her literary works.
Another notable bearer of the name Ubah was Ubah Mukhtarova, a 19th century Uzbek writer and poet who played a significant role in promoting women's education and empowerment in Central Asia.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ubah, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Ubah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ubah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ubah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ubah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 77 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ubah 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 4,451,355 US residents.
Is Ubah a common name?
We classify Ubah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 78 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ubah most popular?
The single biggest year for Ubah was 2013, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ubah is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ubah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 598 people with the name Ubah, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,116 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 Ubah 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 Ubah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ubah leans strongly female. 581 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Ubah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ubah is Black at 98.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.7%). 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 Ubah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ubah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.0% (586 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 Ubah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ubah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ubah 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 Ubah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ubah 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 Ubah 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 Americans are named Ubah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.