Afnan
Arabic origin meaning "branches", "twigs", or "young shoots".
Name Census estimates that about 796 living Americans carry the first name Afnan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Afnan today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Afnan births was 2024 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Afnan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Afnan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
796
~ 1 in 430,596 Americans
Peak year
2024
57 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,439
Tracked since 1985
Census
Afnan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 868 people with the first name Afnan, which placed it at #13,786 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,786
National first-name rank
People counted
868
868 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Afnan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Afnan is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.7%) and Black (16.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Afnan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Afnan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.3% · 428
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.7% · 249
- Black or African American16.7% · 145
- Two or more races4.6% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Afnan
Afnan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 805 total registrations, 180 (22.4%) were male and 625 (77.6%) were female.
Afnan as a male name
- Ranked #6,825 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (18 births)
Afnan as a female name
- Ranked #3,439 in 2024
- 45 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Afnan on both sides of the split. Of the 870 people counted with this name, 215 were male (24.7%) and 655 were female (75.3%).
Popularity
Afnan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Afnan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 303 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Afnan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Afnan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Afnan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Afnans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Minnesota, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Afnan, while Ohio, New York, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Afnan
The name Afnan has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "afnan," which means "branches" or "twigs." The name is believed to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in the areas where Arabic is spoken, such as the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, and the Levant.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Afnan can be found in classical Arabic literature, where it was used as a metaphor to describe the beauty and elegance of a person's character or appearance. The name was often associated with qualities such as growth, resilience, and the ability to thrive in challenging environments, much like the branches of a tree.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Afnan. One of the earliest recorded examples is Afnan al-Baghdadi, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who lived in Baghdad during the 11th century. He was known for his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the field of Sharia law.
Another notable figure with the name Afnan was Afnan al-Dimashqi, a Syrian poet and writer who lived in the 17th century. He was celebrated for his mastery of the Arabic language and his poetic compositions, which explored themes of love, nature, and the human experience.
In the 19th century, Afnan al-Kabir was a prominent intellectual and reformer from Lebanon. He was a strong advocate for education and played a crucial role in establishing modern schools and universities in the region. His efforts paved the way for the advancement of knowledge and intellectual discourse in the Arab world.
In more recent times, Afnan Al-Qasem was a Palestinian poet and activist who lived from 1926 to 2005. She was known for her powerful poetry that reflected the struggles and aspirations of the Palestinian people, and her works have been widely celebrated and translated into multiple languages.
Another notable figure with the name Afnan was Afnan Ullah Khan, a Pakistani cricketer who played for the national team in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a talented all-rounder and played a significant role in Pakistan's cricketing achievements during that era.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Afnan. The name continues to be used across various cultures and regions, carrying with it a rich heritage and symbolic meaning rooted in the Arabic language and tradition.
People
Afnan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Afnan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Afnan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Afnan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 796 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Afnan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 430,596 US residents.
Is Afnan a common name?
We classify Afnan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 805 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Afnan most popular?
The single biggest year for Afnan was 2024, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Afnan is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Afnan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 868 people with the name Afnan, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,786 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Afnan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Afnan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Afnan on both sides of the split. Of the 870 people counted with this name, 215 were male (24.7%) and 655 were female (75.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Afnan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Afnan is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.7%) and Black (16.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Afnan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Afnan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (428 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Afnan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Afnan a female name?
Yes, 77.6% of people registered as Afnan in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Afnan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Afnan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Afnan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Afnan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.