# Mahdi (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/mahdi/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “guided one” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɑːdi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 2,398 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,398 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,178, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَهْدِيّ (mahdiyy, “guided one”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 84 | 1,752 |
| 2012 | 79 | 1,856 |
| 2013 | 93 | 1,640 |
| 2014 | 72 | 1,990 |
| 2015 | 98 | 1,635 |
| 2016 | 70 | 2,035 |
| 2017 | 88 | 1,762 |
| 2018 | 74 | 1,989 |
| 2019 | 82 | 1,845 |
| 2020 | 64 | 2,180 |
| 2021 | 67 | 2,148 |
| 2022 | 79 | 1,960 |
| 2023 | 86 | 1,860 |
| 2024 | 107 | 1,605 |
| 2025 | 104 | 1,629 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 50 | 652 |
| 2012 | 54 | 640 |
| 2013 | 52 | 647 |
| 2014 | 50 | 670 |
| 2015 | 45 | 727 |
| 2016 | 55 | 641 |
| 2017 | 45 | 761 |
| 2018 | 43 | 763 |
| 2019 | 49 | 686 |
| 2020 | 38 | 812 |
| 2021 | 36 | 854 |
| 2022 | 39 | 810 |
| 2023 | 50 | 691 |
| 2024 | 54 | 678 |
| 2025 | 54 | 668 |

## People named Mahdi

- Mahdi Camara, French and Gambian footballer (born 1998)
- Mahdi Ali, Emirati soccer player and coach
- Mahdi Fleifel, Danish-Palestinian director
- Mahdi al-Harati, Commander of the Tripoli Brigade
- Mehdi Cerbah, Algerian association football player (1953–2021)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.