Talib
Masculine · “seeker”
Talib means a seeker, and specifically a student — the one who is looking for knowledge rather than the one who has it. It is an ordinary and respected word across the Muslim world, and it has one modern complication that no family choosing it can ignore: the Pashto plural of exactly this word is Taliban.
How old is the name Talib?
Talib first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Talib alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 900 people named Talib are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Talib most popular?
Talib peaked in 1978, reaching #2134 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 9,874 places below that high. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ṭālib to Talib
The story of Talib
Abu Talib was the uncle who raised Muhammad after his grandfather's death and who protected him through the difficult years in Mecca, which gives the name a particular standing — it belongs to a figure remembered for shelter and loyalty rather than for doctrine. The name is used across the Muslim world and reached American records through two channels at once: immigration from the Middle East and South Asia, and the adoption of Arabic names by African American families from the 1960s onward. Its American shape follows the second of those closely.
Meaning
seeker; student
From the Arabic root ṭ-l-b, to seek or to request, in the active participle: one who seeks. In practice it means a student, particularly a student of religious knowledge, and it has meant that for many centuries across Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Pashto.
How the name formed
- ṭālib
- Talib
Related forms: Ṭālib · Talib · Taleb · Talip
Pronouncing Talib
TAH-lib
Two syllables, stress on the first, both vowels short. Arabic gives the first vowel more length and the t a heavier quality that English does not have, but the American saying is close enough to pass anywhere.
Nicknames for Talib
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 200242 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2134reached in 1978
- Change vs 2024
- −28.6%5 in 2025, from 7
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.
Talib in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ṭālib in Arabic — transliteration
- Talib in Urdu — same name
- Taleb in Persian — same name
- Talip in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania.
Talibs among us
people named Talib are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Talib
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 Frederik test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Talib's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Frederik climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Frederik's path sketches the road Talib is walking now.
Talib 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
Talib beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Talib 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 modest and appealing — the seeker rather than the authority — and it is easy to tell.
- It is a respected name across a very large part of the world.
- Tal is available and works effortlessly in English.
- Five letters, two syllables, and no sound English lacks.
- The plural of this word is the name of an Afghan political movement, and everyone who has read a newspaper in the last quarter-century will make the connection at least once.
- That association is grammatical rather than meaningful — the word itself simply means student — but explaining it is a real and recurring task.
- Taleb, Talip and Talib are all in use, so the spelling has to be given.
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What they receive
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Talib
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Talibs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Talib are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Talib in 2025?
- Talib ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Talib?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Talib — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Talib with classmates?
- Talib will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Talib
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Talib? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Talib 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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