2000
#23,721
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 996
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.37
Rare Last name
Othman
An Arabic surname referring to a descendant or follower of Othman, the third Muslim caliph.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,671 Americans carry the last name Othman. That puts it at #12,661 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.78 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 128,324 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Othman 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 Othman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.7K
1 in 128,324
Census rank
#12,661
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,329 bearers of the surname Othman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.78 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12661st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Othman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Othman
The surname OTHMAN is an Arabic name with origins in the Middle East. The name is derived from the Arabic word "Uthman," which means "prosperity" or "abundance." It is believed to have originated in the 7th century CE during the early Islamic period.
The surname OTHMAN is closely associated with Uthman ibn Affan, one of the most prominent companions of the Prophet Muhammad and the third Caliph of the Islamic empire. Uthman ibn Affan played a crucial role in the early spread of Islam and the compilation of the Quran.
In the Middle Ages, the OTHMAN surname was particularly prominent among the Ottoman Turks, who ruled a vast empire spanning parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa from the 13th to the 20th century. The Ottoman dynasty was founded by Osman I, who took the name OTHMAN as his surname.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the OTHMAN surname can be found in the 14th-century Ottoman chronicles, which document the exploits of the Ottoman rulers and their conquests. The name also appears in various historical manuscripts and records from the region.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname OTHMAN. One such figure is Nur al-Din Othman, a 12th-century Arab philosopher and scholar from Andalusia (modern-day Spain). Another prominent figure was Osman Ghazi, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, who lived from 1258 to 1326 CE.
In the 19th century, Osman Pasha (1832-1900) was a famous Ottoman military commander and statesman who played a crucial role in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Ahmed Othman (1856-1914) was an Egyptian writer and journalist who advocated for Egyptian independence from British colonial rule.
More recently, Salah Othman (1925-2008) was a renowned Egyptian architect and urban planner who designed several iconic buildings in Cairo and other cities across the Arab world.
The OTHMAN surname has also been associated with various place names and locations, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. For example, the city of Othmania in Tunisia and the village of Othmaniyah in Iraq bear variations of the name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Othman
Among Census respondents with the surname Othman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Othman 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 Othman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 1,926
- Black or African American5.4% · 125
- Two or more races4.8% · 111
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 99
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 68
Timeline
Historical Census data for Othman
Othman 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
#17,673
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,588
+592 bearers (+59.4%)
Per 100,000 0.54
Rank movement Up 6,048 places
2020
#12,661
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,329
+741 bearers (+46.7%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Up 5,012 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #23,721 | 996 | 0.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #17,673 | 1,588 | 0.54 | +592 bearers (+59.4%) | Up 6,048 places |
| 2020 | #12,661 | 2,329 | 0.78 | +741 bearers (+46.7%) | Up 5,012 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 Othman 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 | #17,673 | #12,661 | 28.4% |
| Count | 1,588 | 2,329 | 46.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.54 | 0.78 | 44.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Othman bearers went from 1,588 to 2,329 (+46.7% change). The surname moved up 5,012 positions in the national ranking, going from #17,673 to #12,661.
FAQ
Othman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Othman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,671 living Americans carry the surname Othman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 128,324 residents.
How common is Othman?
Othman ranks #12,661 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.78 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 2,329 people with the surname Othman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,671), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.78 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.78 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 Othman.
Has Othman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Othman went from 1,588 recorded bearers to 2,329. That is an increase of 741 (+46.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #17,673 to #12,661.
What does the Census say about the background of Othman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Othman, the largest self-reported group is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Black (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Othman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (1,926 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Othman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (82.7%), Black (5.4%), Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Othman (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 Othman mean?
An Arabic surname referring to a descendant or follower of Othman, the third Muslim caliph. 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 Othman (0.78 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 Othman?
If you just want to know how common the surname Othman is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.