Abubakar
Masculine · “father of the young camel”
Abubakar is the West African and South Asian spelling of Abu Bakr, the name of the first caliph. It is a kunya rather than a given name in the strict sense — an Arabic construction that names a man by a relationship.
How old is the name Abubakar?
Abubakar first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Abubakar is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Abubakar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Abubakar most popular?
Abubakar peaked in 2017, reaching #2270 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 970 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Abu Bakr to Abubakar
The story of Abubakar
Arabic naming allows a man to be known as the father of someone or something, and Abu Bakr was borne by the Prophet Muhammad's closest companion, who became the first caliph after his death. The name spread with Islam into West Africa and South Asia, where it is written as a single word — Abubakar in Nigeria and Hausa-speaking regions, Abubakr and Aboubacar elsewhere. It is among the most-used men's names in northern Nigeria.
Meaning
father of the young camel
Arabic abu means father of, and bakr is a young camel; kunya names of this shape were common in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Arabia and were often affectionate or descriptive rather than literal.
How the name formed
- Abu Bakr
- Abubakar
Related forms: Abu Bakr · Aboubacar · Abubakr · Ebubekir
Pronouncing Abubakar
ah-boo-BAH-kar
Four syllables with the stress on the third. English speakers tend to stress the first and shorten the rest.
Nicknames for Abubakar
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
- 1977
- Most boys named
- 201758 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2270reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −28.0%36 in 2025, from 50
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.
Abubakar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Abu Bakr in Arabic — same name
- Aboubacar in French — transliteration
- Abubakr in Urdu — spelling variant
- Ebubekir in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, New York, Ohio.
Abubakars among us
people named Abubakar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Abubakar
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Abubakar
- #3240
- Abubakar on the 2025 chart
- #887
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Abubakar went to 36 boys in 2025, but Abubacar is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 41, which makes it the 887th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,353 places above the chart.
- Abubakar36
- Abubacar5
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 47,447 for Abubakar itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Murad test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Abubakar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Murad climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Murad's path sketches the road Abubakar is walking now.
Abubakar 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 Abubakar is headed
Abubakar 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.
Abubakar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Abubakar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning and a documented record from the first years of Islam.
- Abu is a short form already in universal use, so the length is not a practical problem.
- Recognized instantly across West Africa, South Asia and the Arab world.
- Nine letters and four syllables is a great deal for American forms and early handwriting.
- Aboubacar, Abubakr and Abu Bakr are the same name and different branches may use different ones.
- It carries a specific historical figure with it, which is the point in most families that choose it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Abubakar 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 Abubakar? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Abubakar
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Abubakars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Abubakar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Abubakar?
- Abubakar is the most-used spelling in US records — 36 of the 41 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Abubacar.
- How popular is the name Abubakar in 2025?
- Abubakar ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Abubakar?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Abubakar — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Abubakar with classmates?
- Abubakar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Abubakar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Abubakar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Abubakar 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