Fun Facts About the Name Usamah
- 42 babies named Usamah: U.S. records list 42 babies given the name Usamah from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Usamah Mean?
Usamah is an Arabic masculine name, written أسامة (ʾUsāmah), and its established meaning is "lion." In classical Arabic, usāmah is one of the language's many nouns for the lion, alongside words such as asad, lays, and ghaḍanfar, and Arabic dictionaries record it as a word for the lion used as a personal name.
The noun is built on the Arabic pattern fuʿālah, which forms a noun from a root. Lexicographers have not settled on one root derivation: some list usāmah simply as a synonym of asad (lion), recorded as a noun in its own right, and the precise root relationship is not firmly established. The settled point is the lexical meaning, "lion," which is the name's literal sense rather than a later symbolic reading. Usamah, Usama, and Osama are transliterations of the same Arabic name, not separate names with different origins.
Usamah Name History & Origins
The word usāmah was in use as a personal name in Arabic before Islam, as were other Arabic words for the lion. Its wide currency among Muslims is tied to Usamah ibn Zayd (died around 673), the son of Zayd ibn Harithah and a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad placed him, while still a young man, in command of a military expedition toward the Syrian frontier in 632; the force set out after Muhammad's death under the caliph Abu Bakr. He is also remembered in Islamic tradition as a narrator of hadith.
A later bearer was Usamah ibn Munqidh (1095 - 1188), the emir of Shayzar in northern Syria, whose memoir Kitāb al-Iʿtibār describes life in the region during the Crusades and is a well-known eyewitness source for that period. The name stayed in use across the Arabic-speaking world and among Muslims elsewhere, appearing in Turkish as Üsame. In English the same Arabic name is also transliterated Osama and Usama, and Osama is the form generally used in English-language news coverage.
How Popular is the Name Usamah?
Usamah 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 1998. Its best rank was #5,447 in 1998.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | #9,188 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #12,041 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #5,447 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #8,068 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #8,648 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1992 | #9,750 | 5 | 0.0003% |
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.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with U
How the Name Usamah Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have talent, charm and luck. You can succeed in art and in any educational occupation. You attract peculiar experiences. Your power and protection lies in spiritual side of life. You are an enthusiastic collector and you will be tenacious in holding onto the things you accumulate. You have a good memory and should make an effort to have a positive attitude. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented,energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
✦ Usamah's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Usamah's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.