Assaf
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "gatherer" or "collector".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Assaf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Assaf today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Assaf births was 2000 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Assaf. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Assaf. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2000
6 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2000 SSA rank
#9,182
Tracked since 1970
Census
Assaf in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 319 people with the first name Assaf, which placed it at #28,252 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
#28,252
National first-name rank
People counted
319
319 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Assaf
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Assaf is White at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Assaf 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 Assaf at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.9% · 306
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 6
- Black or African American1.3% · 4
- Two or more races0.6% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Assaf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Assaf from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Assaf 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 Assaf 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 Assaf
The name Assaf is rooted in the Semitic languages, particularly in Arabic and Hebrew. Its origin can be traced back to ancient times, with the earliest recorded mention in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it refers to a place name.
In Arabic, the name Assaf has its roots in the word "asaf," which means "to gather" or "to collect." This could suggest that the name was initially associated with professions or activities related to gathering or collecting, such as farming or harvesting.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Assaf was Assaf ibn Burhan, a Samaritan scholar and astronomer who lived in the 10th century CE. He is known for his contributions to the field of astronomy and for his writings on various scientific topics.
Another notable bearer of the name was Assaf Yahya al-Baghdadi, a renowned Jewish philosopher and scholar who lived in the 10th century CE. He was a prolific writer and made significant contributions to the study of philosophy, theology, and linguistics.
In the 12th century CE, Assaf ibn al-Bursuqi was a prominent Muslim scholar and jurist from Spain. He is known for his legal writings and his expertise in Islamic jurisprudence.
During the 13th century CE, Assaf al-Dimashqi was a famous Syrian historian and writer. He authored several works on the history of Damascus and the surrounding regions, providing valuable insights into the cultural and social life of that era.
Assaf Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who lived in the 19th century, was a significant figure in the history of the Ottoman Empire. He served as the Grand Vizier (prime minister) and played a crucial role in various political and diplomatic affairs during his time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Assaf throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across different cultures and time periods.
People
Assaf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Assaf 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
Assaf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Assaf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Assaf 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Assaf a common name?
We classify Assaf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Assaf most popular?
The single biggest year for Assaf was 2000, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Assaf is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Assaf in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 319 people with the name Assaf, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,252 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 Assaf 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 Assaf?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Assaf appears almost entirely male. Of the 326 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Assaf?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Assaf is White at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Assaf most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Assaf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (306 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 Assaf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Assaf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Assaf 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 Assaf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Assaf 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 Assaf 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 the name Assaf?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.