Wissam
Of Semitic origin meaning "mark" or "beauty spot".
Name Census estimates that about 247 living Americans carry the first name Wissam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wissam today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wissam births was 2022 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wissam. 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 Wissam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
247
~ 1 in 1,387,669 Americans
Peak year
2022
22 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,801
Tracked since 1985
Census
Wissam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 814 people with the first name Wissam, which placed it at #14,472 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
#14,472
National first-name rank
People counted
814
814 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wissam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wissam is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Wissam 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 Wissam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 739
- Two or more races4.1% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 16
- Black or African American1.8% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Wissam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wissam 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 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Wissam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wissam 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 Wissam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wissams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wissam
The name Wissam originates from the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "wasama" which means "to mark" or "to brand". The name can be traced back to the 7th century AD, during the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language across the Middle East and North Africa.
Wissam is a masculine name that was historically given to boys in Arabic-speaking regions. It was particularly popular among the nomadic Arab tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, who used branding as a way to mark their livestock and identify ownership. The name may have been chosen to represent strength, determination, or a sense of belonging.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Wissam can be found in ancient Arabic poetry and literature from the 8th century AD. The name appears in various works of poetry, describing the bravery and courage of warriors and tribal leaders who bore this name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Wissam. One of the earliest was Wissam ibn Zayd (720-796 AD), a renowned Arabic poet and scholar from Basra, in present-day Iraq. He was known for his contributions to early Islamic literature and his mastery of the Arabic language.
Another prominent figure was Wissam al-Hadrami (1181-1258 AD), a Sufi mystic and scholar from Hadramaut, Yemen. He was widely respected for his spiritual teachings and his writings on Islamic mysticism, which had a significant influence on the development of Sufism in the region.
In the modern era, Wissam Mounir (1952-2018) was a celebrated Egyptian actor and comedian. He was renowned for his portrayal of various comedic roles in Egyptian films and television series, and his ability to capture the nuances of everyday life with humor and wit.
Wissam Al-Husseini (born 1962) is a prominent Jordanian businessman and philanthropist. He has made significant contributions to the development of the private sector in Jordan and has been involved in various charitable initiatives, particularly in the fields of education and healthcare.
Wissam Ben Yedder (born 1990) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for the French national team and the Spanish club Sevilla FC. He has had a successful career in European football, playing for various clubs in France, Spain, and Portugal.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Wissam. While the name has its roots in Arabic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and continues to be used across various communities and cultures around the world.
People
Wissam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wissam 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
Wissam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wissam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 247 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wissam 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 1,387,669 US residents.
Is Wissam a common name?
We classify Wissam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 250 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wissam most popular?
The single biggest year for Wissam was 2022, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wissam is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wissam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 814 people with the name Wissam, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,472 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 Wissam 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 Wissam?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wissam leans strongly male. 725 people counted with this name were male (88.8%), compared with 91 female bearers (11.2%). 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 Wissam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wissam is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Wissam most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wissam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (739 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 Wissam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wissam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wissam 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 Wissam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wissam 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 Wissam 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 the name Wissam?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.