Akif
From the Arabic language, meaning wise or intelligent.
Name Census estimates that about 146 living Americans carry the first name Akif. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Akif today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akif births was 2015 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akif. 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 Akif with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
146
~ 1 in 2,347,632 Americans
Peak year
2015
11 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,943
Tracked since 2001
Census
Akif in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 316 people with the first name Akif, which placed it at #28,429 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
#28,429
National first-name rank
People counted
316
316 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akif
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akif is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (39.9%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Akif 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 Akif at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.5% · 166
- Asian and Pacific Islander39.9% · 126
- Black or African American3.5% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 7
- Two or more races1.9% · 6
Popularity
Akif: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akif from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akif 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 Akif during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Akif
The name Akif has its origins in Arabic and is derived from the root word "aqafa," which means "to understand" or "to comprehend." It is believed to have emerged during the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD, in the Arabian Peninsula.
The name Akif gained popularity among the Arabs and subsequently spread to various regions influenced by Islamic culture and traditions. It was particularly prevalent in areas such as the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Central Asia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Akif can be found in the works of renowned Arabic poets and scholars from the 8th and 9th centuries AD. The name was often associated with individuals who possessed a deep understanding of literature, philosophy, and religious teachings.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Akif. One of the most prominent was the Turkish poet and writer Mehmet Akif Ersoy (1873-1936), who is widely regarded as the national poet of Turkey. His masterpiece, the "Istiklal Marsi" (Independence March), became the national anthem of the Republic of Turkey.
Another renowned figure was Akif Pasha (1831-1907), an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1896 to 1897. He played a crucial role in shaping the political landscape of the region during the late 19th century.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Akif ibn Ali al-Muhandis (d. 1083) was a prominent mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and is credited with developing advanced techniques for solving algebraic equations.
Akif Pirincci (born 1959) is a contemporary German author and novelist of Turkish descent. He is known for his controversial and provocative writings, which often explore themes of identity, immigration, and social issues.
Akif Manaf (1936-2020) was an Indonesian actor and singer who gained widespread recognition for his roles in numerous films and television series throughout his career, which spanned several decades.
The name Akif has maintained its presence and significance within various cultural and linguistic contexts, reflecting its deep-rooted historical connections and the influence of Arabic language and Islamic traditions on naming practices across different regions of the world.
People
Akif + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akif 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
Akif: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akif?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akif 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 2,347,632 US residents.
Is Akif a common name?
We classify Akif as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 147 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akif most popular?
The single biggest year for Akif was 2015, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akif 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 Akif in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 316 people with the name Akif, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,429 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 Akif 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 Akif?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akif appears almost entirely male. Of the 317 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Akif?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akif is White at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (39.9%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Akif most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Akif in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (166 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 Akif in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akif a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Akif in the SSA data are male. 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 Akif still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akif 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 Akif 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 have Akif as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Akif on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.