Hafsa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "young lioness" or "unsheathed sword".
Name Census estimates that about 2,419 living Americans carry the first name Hafsa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hafsa today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hafsa births was 2023 (151 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hafsa. 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 Hafsa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Hafsa is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 141,693 Americans
Peak year
2023
151 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,516
Tracked since 1981
Census
Hafsa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,624 people with the first name Hafsa, which placed it at #6,177 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
#6,177
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,624 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
54.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hafsa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hafsa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Black (29.6%) and White (12.2%). 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 Hafsa 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 Hafsa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander54.6% · 1,432
- Black or African American29.6% · 777
- White12.2% · 321
- Two or more races2.9% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Popularity
Hafsa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hafsa 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 1,031 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hafsa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hafsa 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 Hafsa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hafsas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. New York, California, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Hafsa, while Massachusetts, Florida, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 98 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hafsa
The name Hafsa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the root word "hafitha," which means "to memorize" or "to preserve." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have initially been associated with traits such as intelligence, diligence, and a strong memory.
The name Hafsa holds great significance in Islamic history, as it was borne by one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad. Hafsa bint Umar ibn al-Khattab (605-665 CE) was a prominent figure in early Islamic society and played a crucial role in preserving and transmitting the teachings of the Prophet.
Beyond its religious connotations, the name Hafsa has been recorded throughout various historical periods and across different cultures. In ancient Arabic literature, there are references to individuals bearing this name, although specific details are scarce.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hafsa can be found in the Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled from 661 to 750 CE. During this period, Hafsa bint al-Mundhir (d. 665 CE) was a renowned poet and scholar, celebrated for her literary contributions.
In the medieval period, the name Hafsa appeared among the ruling dynasties of the Islamic world. Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rakuniyya (1135-1190 CE) was a prominent figure in the Almohad Caliphate, known for her patronage of arts and literature.
Moving forward in time, the name Hafsa continued to be used across various regions and cultures influenced by Arabic and Islamic traditions. Hafsa Bint Muhammad (1520-1590 CE) was a princess of the Ottoman Empire, renowned for her philanthropic efforts and support of educational institutions.
In the 19th century, Hafsa Bint Ismail (1825-1898) was a prominent figure in the Nusantara region (modern-day Indonesia and Malaysia), celebrated for her work in promoting Islamic education and empowering women.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Hafsa. The enduring use of this name across various cultures and time periods highlights its rich historical significance and the potential values it represents, such as knowledge, preservation, and cultural heritage.
People
Hafsa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hafsa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hafsa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hafsa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,419 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hafsa 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 141,693 US residents.
Is Hafsa a common name?
We classify Hafsa as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,445 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hafsa most popular?
The single biggest year for Hafsa was 2023, when 151 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hafsa is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hafsa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,624 people with the name Hafsa, or 0.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,177 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 Hafsa 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 Hafsa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hafsa appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,627 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Hafsa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hafsa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Black (29.6%) and White (12.2%). 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 Hafsa most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hafsa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.6% (1,432 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 Hafsa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hafsa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hafsa 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 Hafsa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hafsa 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 Hafsa 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 Americans are named Hafsa?
See how many Americans are named Hafsa on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.