Bakari
Masculine · “promise”
Bakari is Swahili for a promise or hope, borrowed from the Arabic, and it is also the name of the first caliph in its fuller form — Abu Bakr.
How old is the name Bakari?
Bakari first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Bakari alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 1,600 people named Bakari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bakari most popular?
Bakari peaked in 1978, reaching #1652 nationally. Today it ranks #1728, 76 places below that high. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Bakr to Bakari
The story of Bakari
Abu Bakr was the Prophet's closest companion and the first caliph, ruling for two years after 632. The Swahili coast, Muslim since the eighth century, took Arabic names into its own naming. Bakari entered American use in the 1970s and 1980s alongside Jelani and Amani, and is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
promise, hope; noble oath
The Swahili Bakari is generally read as 'promise' or 'hope' and is a borrowing from the Arabic. It also functions as a form of Bakr, the element in Abu Bakr, which itself relates to a young camel or to being early. The readings differ and none is dominant.
How the name formed
- Bakr
- Bakari
Related forms: Bakari · Bakr · Bacari
Pronouncing Bakari
bah-KAR-ee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Swahili gives every vowel a full value with no reduction.
Nicknames for Bakari
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
- 1973
- Most boys named
- 202594 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1652reached in 1978
- Change vs 2024
- +10.6%94 in 2025, from 85
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.
Bakari in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bakari in Swahili — same name
- Bakr in Arabic — related form
- Bacari in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, Georgia.
Bakaris among us
people named Bakari are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,171 born in 2025 was named Bakari
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Bakari
- #1728
- Bakari on the 2025 chart
- #824
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Bakari went to 94 boys in 2025, but Bacari and Bakary are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 104, which makes it the 824th most-given boys’ name of the year — 904 places above the chart.
- Bakari94
- Bacari5
- Bakary5
About 1 boy in 16,424 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 18,171 for Bakari 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 Burlin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Bakari's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Burlin climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Burlin's path sketches the road Bakari is walking now.
Bakari is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Bakari is headed
Bakari looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 27% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Bakari beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Bakari in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The promise-and-hope reading is transparent and attractive.
- The first caliph carries the Arabic form, which is real historical weight.
- Three syllables with a strong middle, a rhythm that carries well.
- The Swahili and Arabic readings differ and neither is dominant.
- It is closely dated to the 1980s in American records.
- The Bak clipping is awkward in English.
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What they receive
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Bakari
Masculine · #1728 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bakaris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Bakari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Bakari?
- Bakari is the most-used spelling in US records — 94 of the 104 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Bacari and Bakary.
- How popular is the name Bakari in 2025?
- Bakari ranks #1728 among US boy names in 2025, with 94 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Bakari?
- About 1 in every 18,171 US boys born in 2025 was named Bakari — 94 in all.
- Will my child share the name Bakari with classmates?
- Bakari will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Bakari
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Clinton#1728 · Jahir#1728 · Eder#1728 · Fredrick#1728 · Anson#1728 · Kain#1728 · Wilmer#1728 · Bentlee#1728
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bakari? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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