Wisam
A masculine Arabic name meaning "handsome", "attractive", or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 290 living Americans carry the first name Wisam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wisam today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wisam births was 2014 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wisam. 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 Wisam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
290
~ 1 in 1,181,912 Americans
Peak year
2014
16 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,788
Tracked since 1975
Census
Wisam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,019 people with the first name Wisam, which placed it at #12,264 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
#12,264
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,019 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wisam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wisam is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (3.1%). 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 Wisam 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 Wisam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 896
- Two or more races4.6% · 47
- Black or African American3.1% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 21
Popularity
Wisam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wisam from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 90 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Wisam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wisam 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 Wisam 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 Wisam
The name Wisam has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "wasama," which means "to be marked" or "to be distinguished." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times in the Arabian Peninsula and the greater Middle East region.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Wisam can be found in the Kitab al-Aghani, a famous anthology of Arabic poetry compiled in the 9th century CE. The name is mentioned in several poems and literary works from that era, indicating its widespread use among the Arab tribes and communities of that time.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Wisam is often associated with bravery and courage. Some scholars suggest that it may have been inspired by the Arabic word "samsam," which refers to a type of sword or sabre used in battle. This connection could have led to the name being bestowed upon warriors and fighters in the early days of Islam.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Wisam. One of the most famous was Wisam ibn Zaid al-Amiri (born around 700 CE), a prominent Arab general and military commander who served under the Umayyad Caliphate. He played a crucial role in the conquest of Khurasan (modern-day eastern Iran and parts of Central Asia) and is celebrated for his military achievements.
Another historical figure named Wisam was Wisam ibn Burhan al-Din al-Baghdadi (born in the 12th century CE), a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and ethics, and his works were widely studied and influential during his time.
In the realm of literature, Wisam al-Khayr (born in the 10th century CE) was a prominent Arabic poet and writer from Basra, Iraq. His poetic works, which often celebrated love and nature, were highly regarded and have been preserved in various anthologies and collections.
Wisam al-Din al-Khafaji (born in the 16th century CE) was an Ottoman scholar and poet who hailed from Aleppo, Syria. He is known for his extensive writings on Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and literature, as well as for his contributions to the development of the Ottoman literary tradition.
The name Wisam has also been borne by several modern figures, such as Wisam Munir, an Iraqi footballer who played for the national team in the late 20th century, and Wisam Sami, an Iraqi actor and television personality who has appeared in numerous popular TV shows and films.
People
Wisam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wisam as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wisam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wisam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 290 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wisam 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 1,181,912 US residents.
Is Wisam a common name?
We classify Wisam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wisam most popular?
The single biggest year for Wisam was 2014, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wisam 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 Wisam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,019 people with the name Wisam, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,264 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 Wisam 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 Wisam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wisam leans strongly male. 921 people counted with this name were male (90.4%), compared with 98 female bearers (9.6%). 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 Wisam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wisam is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Black (3.1%). 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 Wisam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wisam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (896 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 Wisam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wisam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wisam 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 Wisam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wisam 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 Wisam 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 have Wisam as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Wisam on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.