Mahdi
Masculine · “rightly guided one”
Mahdi is the rightly guided one — a title rather than a name, and in Islamic eschatology the figure who will appear before the end to set the world right.
How old is the name Mahdi?
Mahdi first appears in US birth records in 1959 — 66 years ago. The typical Mahdi alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 2,400 people named Mahdi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mahdi most popular?
Mahdi peaked in 2024, reaching #1599 nationally. Today it ranks #1621, 22 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From hada to Mahdi
The story of Mahdi
The Mahdi is a figure of Islamic eschatology, awaited in both Sunni and Shia tradition though understood differently in each; in Twelver Shia Islam he is the hidden twelfth Imam. Several historical figures have claimed the title, most famously in Sudan in 1881. The name is used across the Muslim world and is in current American use.
Meaning
rightly guided one
From the Arabic mahdi, the passive participle of hada, 'to guide' — so 'one who is guided'. The same root gives hidayah, 'guidance'. It is a title in Islamic tradition before it is a personal name, and the word is ordinary Arabic with an undisputed meaning.
How the name formed
- hada
- mahdi
- Mahdi
Related forms: مهدي · Mehdi · Mehdi
Pronouncing Mahdi
MAH-dee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic gives the h a distinct breath in the middle that English usually drops.
Nicknames for Mahdi
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
- 1959
- Most boys named
- 2024107 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1599reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −2.8%104 in 2025, from 107
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.
Mahdi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- مهدي in Arabic — transliteration
- Mehdi in Persian — spelling variant
- Mehdi in Turkish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, New York, California.
Mahdis among us
people named Mahdi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 16,424 born in 2025 was named Mahdi
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 Deaundre test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mahdi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Deaundre climbed just as high around 1997, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Deaundre's path sketches the road Mahdi is walking now.
Mahdi is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mahdi is headed
Mahdi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 16% 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.
Mahdi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mahdi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The guidance meaning is transparent, undisputed and theologically substantial.
- It is used across Arabic, Persian, Turkish and South Asian naming.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk in English.
- It is an eschatological title, which carries weight some families will weigh.
- Mehdi is the commoner Persian spelling and both are in use.
- It reads as specifically Muslim.
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What they receive
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Mahdi
Masculine · #1621 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mahdis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Mahdi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mahdi in 2025?
- Mahdi ranks #1621 among US boy names in 2025, with 104 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mahdi?
- About 1 in every 16,424 US boys born in 2025 was named Mahdi — 104 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mahdi with classmates?
- Mahdi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mahdi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kendrix#1621 · Teagan#1621 · Ahaan#1621 · Antony#1621 · Obadiah#1621 · Theoden#1621 · Tylen#1621 · Benton#1621
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mahdi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mahdi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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