Given name & surname
Abdul
“a servant of God”
Abdul is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “a servant of God.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “a servant of God.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic عَبْد (“servant of”); its root is Arabic ع ب د.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1930. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Abdul through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,528
- 6,528 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1975
- 157 babies
- 2025
- 84
- #1,867 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −23%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 84 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,867 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 23.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (14). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 20,968 as a first name in 2020; 2,456 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Abdul’s family of names
Abdul has a related form in Abdullah. In English usage, Abdul has a conventional equivalent in the Dutch form Abdel. In Turkish usage, Abdul has a related form in Abdel.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Abdul has relatives in 14 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
19 related names in 14 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 20
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- ܥܒܕܪܚܡܢequivalent
- Auduequivalent
- Lamidiequivalent
- Abdolequivalent
- AbdoelDutch
- ئابدۇلUyghur
- AbdülTurkish
- Абду́лRussian
Show 4 moreShow fewer
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Abdul
- Abdul Ghani Baradarco-founder and political leader of the Afghan Talibanborn 1963
- Abdul Ghaffar KhanPashtun independence activist against British rule in India1890–1988
- Abdul Halim of Kedah5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Sultan of Kedah1927–2017
- Abdul Qadeer KhanPakistani nuclear engineer (1936–2021)
- Abdul Razak Husseinformer 2nd Prime Minister of Malaysia (1922-1976)
- Abdul Latif Rashidpresident of Iraq since 2022born 1944
- Abdul Sattar EdhiPakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian1928–2016
- Abdul Ahad MomandAfghan astronaut1959–2026
- Abdul FatawuGhanaian association football playerborn 2004
Characters named Abdul: Abdul Alhazred (fictional Arab sorcerer and writer).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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