2000
#32,202
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 675
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.25
Rare Last name
Mahdi
An Arabic surname derived from the Islamic honorific title applied to a divinely guided leader or messiah.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,370 Americans carry the last name Mahdi. That puts it at #13,967 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.69 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 144,622 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mahdi 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 Mahdi with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 144,622
Census rank
#13,967
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,067 bearers of the surname Mahdi in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.69 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13967th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mahdi, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (32.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mahdi
The surname Mahdi has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the word "Al-Mahdi", which means "the rightly guided one" or "the messiah". The name is closely associated with the Islamic religious beliefs and the concept of a prophesied redeemer who will bring justice and peace to the world.
The earliest recorded use of Mahdi as a surname can be traced back to the medieval period in various regions of the Middle East and North Africa, where Islam was the predominant religion. It was often adopted by individuals who claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad or those who believed in the imminent arrival of the prophesied Mahdi.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the surname Mahdi was Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi, a Sudanese religious leader and revolutionary who led a successful uprising against the Turco-Egyptian rulers in the late 19th century. He proclaimed himself as the Mahdi and established a state in Sudan, ruling from 1881 until his death in 1885.
Another prominent individual with the surname Mahdi was Sadiq al-Mahdi, a Sudanese political and religious leader who served as the prime minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was born in 1935 and was a descendant of Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian novelist and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988. Although Mahfouz was not his surname, he was often referred to as Naguib Mahfouz al-Mahdi, connecting him to the prestigious lineage of the Mahdi.
The surname Mahdi has also been found in various historical records and manuscripts from the Middle East and North Africa, particularly those related to religious and political movements associated with the concept of the Mahdi.
It is worth noting that in some regions, the surname Mahdi has been modified or transliterated into different spellings, such as Mehdi, Mahdavi, or Mahdawi, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the areas where it is found.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mahdi
Among Census respondents with the surname Mahdi, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (32.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Mahdi 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 Mahdi surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 1,022
- Black or African American32.9% · 681
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.3% · 192
- Two or more races6.8% · 141
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mahdi
Mahdi 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
#21,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,241
+566 bearers (+83.9%)
Per 100,000 0.42
Rank movement Up 11,045 places
2020
#13,967
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,067
+826 bearers (+66.6%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Up 7,190 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #32,202 | 675 | 0.25 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #21,157 | 1,241 | 0.42 | +566 bearers (+83.9%) | Up 11,045 places |
| 2020 | #13,967 | 2,067 | 0.69 | +826 bearers (+66.6%) | Up 7,190 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 Mahdi 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 | #21,157 | #13,967 | 34.0% |
| Count | 1,241 | 2,067 | 66.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.42 | 0.69 | 64.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mahdi bearers went from 1,241 to 2,067 (+66.6% change). The surname moved up 7,190 positions in the national ranking, going from #21,157 to #13,967.
FAQ
Mahdi surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mahdi?
Name Census estimates that about 2,370 living Americans carry the surname Mahdi. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 144,622 residents.
How common is Mahdi?
Mahdi ranks #13,967 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.69 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 2,067 people with the surname Mahdi. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,370), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.69 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.69 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 Mahdi.
Has Mahdi become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mahdi went from 1,241 recorded bearers to 2,067. That is an increase of 826 (+66.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #21,157 to #13,967.
What does the Census say about the background of Mahdi?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mahdi, the largest self-reported group is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (32.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.3%). 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 Mahdi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (1,022 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mahdi appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (49.4%), Black (32.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (9.3%). 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 Mahdi (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 Mahdi mean?
An Arabic surname derived from the Islamic honorific title applied to a divinely guided leader or messiah. 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 Mahdi (0.69 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 are called Mahdi?
See how many Americans have the surname Mahdi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.