Khalid
Masculine · Arabic roots · “eternal”
Khalid comes from an Arabic word for lasting or eternal, and it has been in continuous use since the earliest generations of Islam — one of the seventh century's best-known bearers was the commander Khalid ibn al-Walid. It is two clean syllables with a soft ending, and it has crossed into Turkish, Bosnian, Urdu, Malay and Somali usage while keeping its shape almost untouched.
How old is the name Khalid?
Khalid first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Khalid alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 8,000 people named Khalid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Khalid most popular?
Khalid peaked in 2001, reaching #714 nationally. Today it ranks #940, 226 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From khalada (Arabic verb: to endure) to Khalid
The story of Khalid
The name is Arabic, formed as an active participle of the verb khalada, to last or endure. It was already established in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century and traveled outward with Islam — into North and East Africa, Anatolia, Persia, South Asia and the Malay world — picking up local forms such as the Turkish Halit and the Bosnian Halid along the way. In the twentieth century it entered American records through immigration from Arabic-speaking countries, from East Africa and from South Asia, and through American Muslim families choosing names from the classical Islamic tradition. Its US presence is unmistakably strongest where those communities are largest, in New York, Texas and Minnesota.
Meaning
eternal, everlasting, one who endures
From the Arabic root kh-l-d, which carries the sense of permanence and duration; the same root gives khuld, eternity.
How the name formed
- khaladaArabic verb: to endure
- Khālid
- Khalid / Khaled
- HalitTurkish
Related forms: Khaled · Halit · Halid · خالد (Khalid) · Khalid · Xalid
Pronouncing Khalid
KHAH-lid
In Arabic the first sound is the throaty kh of Scottish loch, with stress on the first syllable. In American English two patterns circulate: KAH-lid, and kah-LEED with the accent moved to the end. Both are in real use, so it is worth deciding early which one your family will say.
Nicknames for Khalid
High
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
- 1962
- Most boys named
- 2019273 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #714reached in 2001
- Change vs 2024
- +1.6%250 in 2025, from 246
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.
Khalid in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Khaled in Arabic — spelling variant
- Halit in Turkish — related form
- Halid in Bosnian — related form
- خالد (Khalid) in Urdu — transliteration
- Khalid in Malay / Indonesian — same name
- Xalid in Azerbaijani — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, Minnesota.
Khalids among us
people named Khalid are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,832 born in 2025 was named Khalid
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 Wardell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Khalid's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Wardell climbed just as high around 1909, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Wardell's path sketches the road Khalid is walking now.
Khalid 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 Khalid is headed
Khalid should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Khalid beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Khalid in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One dominant English spelling, and it maps closely to the Arabic pronunciation, so the written form rarely needs explaining twice.
- Recognized on sight across Arabic-speaking, Turkish, Somali, South Asian and Southeast Asian communities, with local forms like Halit and Halid.
- A documented record stretching back to the seventh century, without ever dropping out of use.
- Short, two syllables, and easy for a young child to say and write.
- Present in US records for decades at a steady level rather than a fashion spike — familiar without being everywhere.
- The Arabic kh is usually flattened to a plain k by English speakers. Most families accept this cheerfully, but it is worth knowing that the name will sound slightly different at home and at school.
- Khalid and Khaled are both widely used transliterations, so expect occasional mail and forms with the other vowel.
- He is unlikely to meet another Khalid in his own school year, which means the name stays distinctly his — and also that he will do a little pronunciation-teaching, especially in places where the name is less common.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Khalid
Masculine · Arabic roots · #940 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Khalids are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,000 people named Khalid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Khalid in 2025?
- Khalid ranks #940 among US boy names in 2025, with 250 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Khalid?
- About 1 in every 6,832 US boys born in 2025 was named Khalid — 250 in all.
- Will my child share the name Khalid with classmates?
- Khalid will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Khalid
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rowdy#940 · Veer#940 · Salvatore#943 · Kenji#943 · Eugene#943 · Zyon#943 · Zymir#943 · Krue#935
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Khalid? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Khalid and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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