Ousmane
Masculine
Ousmane is the West African form of Uthman, written to French spelling rules — and Uthman was the third caliph, under whom the text of the Qur'an was fixed.
How old is the name Ousmane?
Ousmane first appears in US birth records in 1993 — 32 years ago. The typical Ousmane is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Ousmane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ousmane most popular?
Ousmane peaked in 2023, reaching #2769 nationally. Today it ranks #3583, 814 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Uthman to Ousmane
The story of Ousmane
Islam crossed the Sahara from the eleventh century and brought its names with it. French colonial administration then fixed the spellings: ou for the u sound, giving Ousmane, Oumar and Aboubacar where English-speaking regions write Usman, Umar and Abubakar. The name is very widely borne in Senegal, Mali and Guinea, and a Senegalese film-maker of the name made it internationally known.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Uthman's meaning is not established. A traditional reading connects it to a word for a young bustard or a snake, following an old Arabic habit of animal names; that reading is traditional rather than proven. The French ou spelling represents the Arabic u.
How the name formed
- Uthman
- Ousmane
Related forms: Uthman · Osman · Usman · Usmanu
Pronouncing Ousmane
oos-MAHN
Two syllables with the stress on the second. The ou is the oo of soon, following French spelling.
Nicknames for Ousmane
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
- 1993
- Most boys named
- 202346 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2769reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −22.5%31 in 2025, from 40
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.
Ousmane in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Uthman in Arabic — same name
- Osman in Turkish — same name
- Usman in Urdu — same name
- Usmanu in Hausa — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Ousmanes among us
people named Ousmane are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was named Ousmane
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 Heron test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ousmane's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Heron climbed just as high around 1950, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Heron's path sketches the road Ousmane is walking now.
Ousmane 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 Ousmane is headed
Ousmane looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 29% 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.
Ousmane beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ousmane in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented record from the earliest Islamic period to the present.
- Very widely borne across French-speaking West Africa.
- Recognized across the whole Muslim world in one spelling or another.
- English readers see ou and say ow, so expect OWS-man until corrected.
- Usman, Osman and Ousmane are the same name in different national spellings.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown despite the name's age and prominence.
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Ousmane
Masculine · #3583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ousmanes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Ousmane are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ousmane in 2025?
- Ousmane ranks #3583 among US boy names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ousmane?
- About 1 in every 55,099 US boys born in 2025 was named Ousmane — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ousmane with classmates?
- Ousmane will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ousmane
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Geoffrey#3583 · Robinson#3583 · Kimani#3583 · Emre#3583 · Yoan#3583 · Anirudh#3583 · Sutter#3583 · Heber#3583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ousmane? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ousmane and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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