Explore the Family Name Alim
The meaning of Alim
Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ʿAlīm meaning ‘wise, learned’, or ʿĀlim meaning ‘(religious) scholar’, from the root ʿ-l-m ‘to know’. Al-ʿAlīm ‘the All-Knowing’ is an attribute of Allah, also seen in the compound name ʿAbd al-ʿAlīm, ʿAbdul-ʿAlīm ‘servant of the All-Knowing’. Compare Aleem.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Alim in the United States?
The popularity of the surname Alim has seen a significant increase between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2000 it was ranked the 50,366th most common surname, but by 2010 it had jumped to being the 42,308th most common, marking a 16 percent rise in popularity. The actual count of people with the surname also grew from 390 to 513 during this period, an increase of more than 31.5 percent. This resulted in the proportion of people with the surname Alim per 100,000 increasing by 21.43 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #50,366 | #42,308 | 16% |
| Count | 390 | 513 | 31.54% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.14 | 0.17 | 21.43% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Alim
When looking at the ethnic breakdown of the people with the surname Alim, we see shifts based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. The largest recorded ethnicity for this surname in both years is Asian/Pacific Islander, which increased from 40.26 percent in 2000 to 46.00 percent in 2010. Those identifying as two or more races dropped drastically by 50 percent, while those identifying as White saw a slight decrease of 4.30 percent. There were no individuals with the surname Alim who identified as Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native in the 2010 census, whereas in 2000, they constituted 2.31 percent and 0 percent respectively. Black individuals made up 32.82 percent in 2000, decreasing slightly to 29.82 percent in 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 40.26% | 46% | 14.26% |
| Black | 32.82% | 29.82% | -9.14% |
| White | 14.87% | 14.23% | -4.3% |
| Two or More Races | 9.74% | 4.87% | -50% |
| Hispanic | 2.31% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |