Hanifa
A feminine Arabic name meaning "true believer" or "faithful".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Hanifa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hanifa today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hanifa births was 2024 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hanifa. 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 Hanifa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
2024
28 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,799
Tracked since 1980
Census
Hanifa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 627 people with the first name Hanifa, which placed it at #17,540 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
#17,540
National first-name rank
People counted
627
627 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
42.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hanifa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanifa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.8%) and White (22.2%). 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 Hanifa 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 Hanifa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander42.7% · 268
- Black or African American25.8% · 162
- White22.2% · 139
- Two or more races8.0% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Hanifa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hanifa 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 122 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
Hanifa 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 Hanifa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hanifas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hanifa
The name Hanifa is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "hanif," which means "true believer" or "one who follows the straight path." It is closely associated with the concept of monotheism in Islamic tradition. The name can be traced back to the pre-Islamic era in Arabia, where it was used to refer to individuals who rejected idolatry and embraced the belief in one God.
Hanifa is mentioned in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, where it is used to describe the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his followers. The Quran states that Ibrahim was a "hanif," meaning he was a monotheist and followed the true religion of God. This association with the prophet Ibrahim has given the name Hanifa a significant religious and spiritual connotation within the Islamic faith.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Hanifa can be found in the 7th century CE, when a prominent Muslim scholar and jurist named Hanifa ibn Ishaq (699-767 CE) established the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence. This legal tradition, named after him, became one of the four major Sunni schools of Islamic law and is widely followed in regions such as Central Asia, South Asia, and parts of the Middle East.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Hanifa. One of the most famous was Hanifa Khatun (1905-1976), a pioneering Bangladeshi feminist and social reformer. She played a crucial role in the Bengal Renaissance and worked tirelessly for women's education and empowerment in the region.
Another prominent figure was Hanifa Deen (1931-2018), a Guyanese-born British author and journalist. She was known for her work on Muslim women's issues and her efforts to promote understanding between different cultures and religions.
In the field of literature, Hanifa Ghaznavi (1928-2008) was an acclaimed Uzbek writer and poet. Her works explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, earning her numerous awards and accolades.
Hanifa Mayat (1922-2014) was a South African activist and politician who fought against apartheid and advocated for the rights of the Indian community in South Africa. She was a member of the African National Congress and played a pivotal role in the struggle for democracy and equality.
Hanifa Hamdi (1892-1993) was an Egyptian feminist and activist who campaigned for women's rights and education in the early 20th century. She founded several organizations and schools dedicated to empowering women and promoting their participation in society.
People
Hanifa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hanifa 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
Hanifa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hanifa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hanifa 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Hanifa a common name?
We classify Hanifa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 274 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hanifa most popular?
The single biggest year for Hanifa was 2024, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hanifa is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hanifa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 627 people with the name Hanifa, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,540 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 Hanifa 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 Hanifa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hanifa leans strongly female. 616 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 14 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Hanifa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hanifa is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.8%) and White (22.2%). 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 Hanifa most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hanifa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.7% (268 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 Hanifa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hanifa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hanifa 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 Hanifa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hanifa 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 Hanifa 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 share the name Hanifa?
Find out how many people share the name Hanifa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.