Imad
Masculine · “pillar”
Imad is a pillar in Arabic: the column that holds up a roof, and by extension the thing or person a whole structure rests on. It is best known inside longer titles, Imad al-Din, pillar of the faith, which medieval rulers and scholars carried, and it stands alone as a name across the Arab world.
How old is the name Imad?
Imad first appears in US birth records in 1977 — 48 years ago. The typical Imad alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 600 people named Imad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Imad most popular?
Imad peaked in 1994, reaching #3751 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 1,106 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Where it comes from
From imad to Imad
The story of Imad
Arabic honorifics of the form something-al-Din were handed to rulers, generals and scholars from the eleventh century, and many of them collapsed into ordinary given names once the titles stopped being formal: Imad, Nur, Salah, Baha and Saif all began that way. Imad has been common across the Levant, Egypt, Iraq and the Maghreb ever since, given by Muslim and Christian Arab families alike. It came to American records with families from all of those places, and its short shape has kept the transliteration stable.
Meaning
pillar, support, mainstay
Arabic imad, a column or support, from a root meaning to prop up or lean on. The compound Imad al-Din, pillar of the faith, is an honorific that was widely given from the twelfth century onward.
How the name formed
- imad
- Imad al-Din
- Imad
Related forms: عماد · İmat · Emad
Pronouncing Imad
ee-MAD
Two syllables with the stress at the end, the first vowel long as in see. The Persian spelling Emad reflects the same sound.
Nicknames for Imad
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
- 200121 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3751reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- +25.0%20 in 2025, from 16
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.
Imad in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- عماد in Arabic — transliteration
- İmat in Turkish — same name
- Emad in Persian — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Illinois.
Imads among us
people named Imad are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Imad
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Imad
- #4857
- Imad on the 2025 chart
- #903
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Imad went to 20 boys in 2025, but Imaad is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 25, which makes it the 903rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,954 places above the chart.
- Imad20
- Imaad5
About 1 boy in 68,323 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 85,404 for Imad 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 Haruto test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Imad's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Haruto climbed just as high around 1925, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Haruto's path sketches the road Imad is walking now.
Imad 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
Imad beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Imad in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and generous: the thing that holds a structure up.
- Four letters and two syllables make it easy to write in any language.
- It is used by Christian and Muslim Arab families alike, so it carries no single affiliation.
- Imad and Emad are both standard transliterations, so family records may differ.
- English speakers may stress the first syllable, which changes the rhythm noticeably.
- It is short enough to offer no formal register to move up to.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Imad
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Imads are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Imad are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Imad?
- Imad is the most-used spelling in US records — 20 of the 25 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Imaad.
- How popular is the name Imad in 2025?
- Imad ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Imad?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Imad — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Imad with classmates?
- Imad will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Imad
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Imad? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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