Mahdi is an Arabic name that means "the rightly guided one" and in Islamic tradition refers to the awaited redeemer who will restore justice before the end of time. The name is especially common among Shia families in Iran and Iraq, where it is often spelled Mehdi. Mahdi has moved slowly upward in the United States, from number 2317 in 2000 to a peak of number 1605 in 2024, and ranks at number 1629 in 2025.