Abdul
Masculine · “servant of the”
Abdul is only half a name — servant of the — and in Arabic it never stands alone, because it needs a divine name to complete it.
How old is the name Abdul?
Abdul first appears in US birth records in 1930 — 95 years ago. The typical Abdul alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 6,200 people named Abdul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abdul most popular?
Abdul peaked in 1976, reaching #652 nationally. Today it ranks #1867, 1,215 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Where it comes from
From abd al- to Abdul
The story of Abdul
Arabic theophoric names take the form abd plus one of the ninety-nine divine names, and colonial and Western record-keeping routinely split them at the space — Abdul Rahman became Abdul, surname Rahman. Two or three generations later the fragment was a name in its own right. Abdul appears in the American registers in current use.
Meaning
servant of the
From the Arabic abd, 'servant' or 'slave', and al-, 'the'. It is a fragment: Abd al-Rahman is servant of the Merciful, Abd al-Aziz servant of the Mighty. Standing alone it means 'servant of the' with nothing following. Western records separated the halves and the fragment became a name.
How the name formed
- abd al-
- Abdul
Related forms: عبد ال · Abdal · Abdül
Pronouncing Abdul
ab-DOOL
Two syllables, stress on the second. Arabic gives the d a fuller release than English does.
Nicknames for Abdul
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1930
- Most boys named
- 1975157 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #652reached in 1976
- Change vs 2023
- −10.6%84 in 2025, from 94
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Abdul in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- عبد ال in Arabic — transliteration
- Abdal in English — spelling variant
- Abdül in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Abduls among us
people named Abdul are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 20,334 born in 2025 was named Abdul
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rand test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Abdul's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rand climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rand's path sketches the road Abdul is walking now.
Abdul sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Abdul is headed
Abdul should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Abdul beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Abdul in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The servant construction is one of the oldest and most theologically precise in Arabic naming.
- How the fragment became a name is a genuinely revealing piece of record-keeping history.
- Abdu is available as a widely used short form.
- In Arabic it is grammatically incomplete and needs a divine name after it.
- Arabic speakers will notice the fragment immediately.
- It reads as specifically Muslim.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Abdul to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Abdul? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Abdul
Masculine · #1867 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Abduls are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,200 people named Abdul are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Abdul in 2025?
- Abdul ranks #1867 among US boy names in 2025, with 84 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Abdul?
- About 1 in every 20,334 US boys born in 2025 was named Abdul — 84 in all.
- Will my child share the name Abdul with classmates?
- Abdul will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Abdul
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bryar#1867 · Ishan#1867 · Jakhari#1867 · Fidel#1867 · Kasper#1867 · Klay#1867 · Brighton#1867 · Coby#1867
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abdul? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Abdul and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle