2000
#30,264
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 730
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.27
Rare Last name
Kassim
A surname possibly of Arabic origin meaning wealthy or generous.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,305 Americans carry the last name Kassim. That puts it at #14,322 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 148,700 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kassim surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Kassim with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 148,700
Census rank
#14,322
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,010 bearers of the surname Kassim in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14322nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kassim, the largest self-reported group is White at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Black (39.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kassim
The surname KASSIM has its origins in the Arabic language and can be traced back to the Middle East and North Africa regions. It is derived from the Arabic word "Qasim," which means "distributor" or "divider." The name is believed to have emerged during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century CE.
The earliest recorded instances of the name KASSIM can be found in historical documents and manuscripts from the medieval Islamic world. One notable example is the Qasim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr, a renowned scholar and philosopher from the 9th century CE who hailed from Khorasan, a region spanning parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.
As the Islamic empires expanded, the name KASSIM spread to various regions, including parts of the Indian subcontinent and the Iberian Peninsula. In the 11th century, a powerful Muslim dynasty known as the Ghaznavids ruled over parts of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, and one of their prominent rulers was Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, whose full name was Mahmud bin Sebuktegin Qasim.
During the medieval period, the name KASSIM also appeared in various chronicles and historical records from the Middle East and North Africa. One notable figure was Qasim al-Riqqi, a 13th-century poet and scholar from Egypt who was renowned for his contributions to Arabic literature.
In the Indian subcontinent, the name KASSIM gained prominence during the Mughal Empire, which ruled over a significant portion of the region from the 16th to the 19th century. One of the most famous figures with this surname was Mir Qasim, a Persian-born nobleman who served as the Nawab of Bengal from 1760 to 1763.
Another notable figure with the surname KASSIM was Qasim Amin, an Egyptian jurist, and reformer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a prominent advocate for women's rights and played a significant role in the Egyptian nationalist movement.
In more recent history, the surname KASSIM has been associated with various individuals from diverse fields, such as Kassim Ahmad, a Sudanese politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister of Sudan in the 1960s, and Kassim Shafi, a renowned Malaysian author and academic who made significant contributions to Malay literature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kassim
Among Census respondents with the surname Kassim, the largest self-reported group is White at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Black (39.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Kassim bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Kassim surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.5% · 794
- Black or African American39.4% · 791
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.0% · 202
- Two or more races8.5% · 171
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kassim
Kassim appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#20,591
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,287
+557 bearers (+76.3%)
Per 100,000 0.44
Rank movement Up 9,673 places
2020
#14,322
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,010
+723 bearers (+56.2%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Up 6,269 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #30,264 | 730 | 0.27 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #20,591 | 1,287 | 0.44 | +557 bearers (+76.3%) | Up 9,673 places |
| 2020 | #14,322 | 2,010 | 0.67 | +723 bearers (+56.2%) | Up 6,269 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Kassim surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #20,591 | #14,322 | 30.4% |
| Count | 1,287 | 2,010 | 56.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.44 | 0.67 | 52.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kassim bearers went from 1,287 to 2,010 (+56.2% change). The surname moved up 6,269 positions in the national ranking, going from #20,591 to #14,322.
FAQ
Kassim surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kassim?
Name Census estimates that about 2,305 living Americans carry the surname Kassim. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 148,700 residents.
How common is Kassim?
Kassim ranks #14,322 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,010 people with the surname Kassim. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,305), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Kassim.
Has Kassim become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kassim went from 1,287 recorded bearers to 2,010. That is an increase of 723 (+56.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #20,591 to #14,322.
What does the Census say about the background of Kassim?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kassim, the largest self-reported group is White at 39.5%. The next largest groups are Black (39.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kassim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.5% (794 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kassim appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (39.5%), Black (39.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (10.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Kassim (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Kassim mean?
A surname possibly of Arabic origin meaning wealthy or generous. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Kassim (0.67 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Kassim?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.