Mehdi
Masculine · “rightly guided”
Mehdi is the Arabic and Persian word for one who is rightly guided — and al-Mahdi is a figure both Sunni and Shia traditions expect at the end of time.
How old is the name Mehdi?
Mehdi first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Mehdi alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,000 people named Mehdi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mehdi most popular?
Mehdi peaked in 1979, reaching #2465 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 1,484 places below that high. See the whole 1979 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mahdi to Mehdi
The story of Mehdi
The Mahdi is an eschatological figure — in Twelver Shia belief the twelfth Imam, in occultation since the ninth century and expected to return; in Sunni tradition a restorer who appears before the end. The word entered use as an ordinary personal name across the Muslim world regardless. Mehdi is the Persian spelling and is very heavily used in Iran, and reaches American records from there and from the Maghreb.
Meaning
rightly guided
From an Arabic root meaning to guide; mahdi is the passive participle, one who has been guided, as against hadi, the one who guides. Al-Hadi is among the divine names.
How the name formed
- mahdi
- Mehdi
Related forms: Mehdi · Mahdi · Mehdi
Pronouncing Mehdi
MEH-dee
Two syllables, first stressed in Persian. Arabic Mahdi is MAH-dee.
Nicknames for Mehdi
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
- 1976
- Most boys named
- 201237 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2465reached in 1979
- Change vs 2024
- −3.6%27 in 2025, from 28
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.
Mehdi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mehdi in Persian — same name
- Mahdi in Arabic — spelling variant
- Mehdi in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Michigan, New York.
Mehdis among us
people named Mehdi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Mehdi
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 Miriam test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mehdi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Miriam climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Miriam's path sketches the road Mehdi is walking now.
Mehdi 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 Mehdi is headed
Mehdi looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 15% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Mehdi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mehdi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely important place in Islamic thought.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Very heavily used in Iran, so it has a large community behind it.
- The Meh clip is now an English word for indifference, which is unfortunate.
- Mehdi and Mahdi mark Persian and Arabic and are both used.
- The eschatological figure is a strong association within Muslim communities.
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What they receive
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Mehdi
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mehdis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Mehdi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mehdi in 2025?
- Mehdi ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mehdi?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Mehdi — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mehdi with classmates?
- Mehdi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mehdi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Tillman#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mehdi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mehdi 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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