Fun Facts About the Name Abdallah
- More than 1 thousand babies named Abdallah: U.S. records list 1,653 babies given the name Abdallah from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Abdallah Mean?
Abdallah is the Arabic name ʿAbd Allāh, meaning "servant of God." It is built from two elements: ʿabd, "servant" or "slave," and Allāh, "God." Allāh is itself a contraction of al- ("the") and ilāh ("deity"), a word related to the Hebrew El and Eloah. The literal sense is "servant of God," a statement of devotion rather than a job description.
Abdallah belongs to the large Arabic family of theophoric names formed from ʿabd plus a name or attribute of God, such as ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ("servant of the Most Merciful") and ʿAbd al-Malik ("servant of the King"). Abdallah, Abdullah, Abd Allah, and Abdellah are transliterations of the same Arabic name; the differences come from how the long ā, the doubled l, and the ʿayn are rendered in other alphabets. Arabic-speaking Christians use the name too, since Allāh is simply the Arabic word for God.
Abdallah Name History & Origins
Names of the form ʿabd plus a divine name were already in use in Arabia before Islam. ʿAbd Allāh appears among pre-Islamic Meccan names; one well-known bearer is ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the father of the Prophet Muḥammad, who is described in early Islamic traditional accounts as dying before his son was born. The pre-Islamic Meccan notable ʿAbd Allāh ibn Judʿān is another.
After the rise of Islam the name spread along with the religion. Early figures include ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, a companion of Muḥammad and an important early authority on the Quran, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, who claimed the caliphate in the 680s. Because the name is a common word combined with the name of God, it was easy to form and to pass into every language that adopted Islam.
Its shape changes with those languages: Persian ʿAbdollāh, Turkish and South Asian Abdullah, Swahili Abdallah, and West African forms such as Abdoulaye and Abdoulie. In English the name is usually written Abdullah or Abdallah. Because Arabic script normally leaves short vowels unwritten, transliterations differ - ʿAbd Allāh, Abdullah, Abdallah, Abd Allah, Abdellah - and no single spelling is standard.
How Popular is the Name Abdallah?
Abdallah has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2018. Its best rank was #2,029 in 2018.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,258 | 62 | 0.0036% |
| 2024 | #2,780 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 2023 | #2,892 | 43 | 0.0025% |
| 2022 | #2,916 | 43 | 0.0025% |
| 2021 | #3,177 | 37 | 0.0021% |
| 2020 | #2,729 | 45 | 0.0026% |
| 2019 | #2,310 | 59 | 0.0033% |
| 2018 | #2,029 | 71 | 0.0039% |
| 2017 | #2,344 | 55 | 0.0030% |
| 2016 | #2,228 | 60 | 0.0032% |
| 2015 | #2,328 | 56 | 0.0029% |
| 2014 | #2,429 | 52 | 0.0027% |
| 2013 | #2,528 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 2012 | #2,715 | 44 | 0.0023% |
| 2011 | #2,402 | 52 | 0.0027% |
| 2010 | #2,466 | 50 | 0.0026% |
| 2009 | #2,990 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 2008 | #2,945 | 40 | 0.0020% |
| 2007 | #2,442 | 52 | 0.0025% |
| 2006 | #2,221 | 57 | 0.0028% |
| 2005 | #2,702 | 40 | 0.0020% |
| 2004 | #2,451 | 45 | 0.0023% |
| 2003 | #2,101 | 53 | 0.0027% |
| 2002 | #2,504 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 2001 | #2,306 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 2000 | #2,297 | 42 | 0.0021% |
| 1999 | #2,398 | 37 | 0.0019% |
| 1998 | #2,273 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 1997 | #2,449 | 33 | 0.0018% |
| 1996 | #2,441 | 32 | 0.0017% |
| 1995 | #2,554 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 1994 | #3,470 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1993 | #3,368 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1992 | #2,999 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 1991 | #3,813 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1990 | #3,309 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1989 | #5,165 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1988 | #3,705 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1987 | #4,239 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1986 | #3,005 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1985 | #3,599 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1984 | #4,975 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #6,238 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #3,482 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1981 | #4,509 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1980 | #5,526 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #5,356 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #4,555 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #4,938 | 6 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Abdallah Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Abdallah's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Abdallah's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.