Ibn
Masculine · “Son of”
Ibn is not a name. It is the piece of Arabic that sits between names — the word for son of, the link in a chain that connects a man to his father and his grandfather and, in principle, all the way back. Taking it as a name on its own is a bold and very American thing to do.
How old is the name Ibn?
Ibn first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Ibn alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 900 people named Ibn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ibn most popular?
Ibn peaked in 1979, reaching #1753 nationally. See the whole 1979 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Ibn
Because it is a connector, the word opens some of the longest and most famous names in the world. Ibn Battuta left Tangier as a young man intending to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, and did not come home for nearly thirty years: he crossed North Africa, Arabia, Persia, East Africa, the Black Sea steppe, India, the Maldives and, by his account, China, and afterward dictated the whole of it to a scholar who wrote it down. He traveled further than anyone had recorded doing before. The same little word begins the name of the philosopher Europe called Averroes and of the historian who first tried to explain why civilizations rise and fall — a word that carries no meaning by itself and opens half the great names of a civilization.
Meaning
Son of
In Arabic naming, ibn joins a person to their father: so-and-so ibn so-and-so ibn so-and-so, a genealogy carried in the name itself. It is a connector, not a label, and the meaning of a name built with it lies in the names on either side of it. Standing alone, it means what a hyphen means.
Pronouncing Ibn
IB-in
In Arabic it is one syllable, said with barely any vowel between the b and the n. American English tends to insert one, giving two syllables.
Nicknames for Ibn
Limited
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
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 199034 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1753reached in 1979
- Change vs 2023
- +28.6%9 in 2024, from 7
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.
Ibn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- ابن in Arabic — same name
- Ben in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New Jersey.
Ibns among us
people named Ibn are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ibn sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Three letters, unforgettable, and carried by essentially nobody else.
- It connects directly to one of the great naming traditions, which is a real inheritance to explain.
- It is impossible to misspell once heard.
- Arabic speakers will hear a grammatical particle rather than a name, and some will find that odd.
- It is short enough to be swallowed in a noisy room, and English speakers will add a vowel to it.
- It looks like an abbreviation on a form, and will occasionally be treated as one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ibn 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 Ibn? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ibn
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Ibns 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 Ibn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ibn in 2025?
- Ibn is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Ibn with classmates?
- Ibn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More I names
The most-given names starting with I, all years combined.
Isaac#47 · Ian#83 · Isaiah#57 · Ivan#162 · Israel#315 · Ira#819 · Irving#1778 · Ismael#263
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ibn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ibn 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