Jafar
A masculine Arabic name meaning "river stream" or "rivulet".
Name Census estimates that about 646 living Americans carry the first name Jafar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jafar today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jafar births was 1994 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jafar. 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 Jafar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
646
~ 1 in 530,579 Americans
Peak year
1994
33 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,610
Tracked since 1975
Census
Jafar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,196 people with the first name Jafar, which placed it at #10,931 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
#10,931
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jafar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafar is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (23.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.7%). 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 Jafar 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 Jafar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.3% · 554
- Black or African American23.8% · 285
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.7% · 212
- Two or more races9.9% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Jafar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jafar from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 174 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Jafar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jafar 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 Jafar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jafars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Michigan, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Jafar, while New Jersey, Michigan, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jafar
The name Jafar has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "jafr," which means "river bank" or "stream." The name likely emerged in the Middle East during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century CE.
In Islamic tradition, the name Jafar is associated with Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the earliest converts to Islam. Ja'far ibn Abi Talib played a significant role in the early history of Islam and is revered by Muslims as a companion of the Prophet and a member of his household.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jafar can be found in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, where it is mentioned in reference to Ja'far ibn Abi Talib. The name also appears in various hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and historical accounts of the early Islamic period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Jafar. One of the most famous was Jafar al-Sadiq (702-765 CE), a prominent Islamic scholar and theologian who played a crucial role in the development of Shia Islamic jurisprudence. He was a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is revered as the sixth Imam by Shia Muslims.
Another historical figure with the name Jafar was Jafar al-Barmaki (767-803 CE), a prominent vizier (minister) during the Abbasid Caliphate. He was known for his wisdom, knowledge, and patronage of scholars and artists.
In the literary realm, Jafar ibn Tawq (d. 815 CE) was a renowned Arabic poet and literary figure during the Abbasid era. His poetry and literary works were highly influential in the development of Arabic literature.
Jafar Khan (1691-1759) was a prominent military commander and governor during the Mughal Empire in India. He played a significant role in the expansion and consolidation of Mughal power in the region.
Jafar Pasha al-Askari (1825-1891) was an Ottoman statesman and military leader who served as the Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1877. He was known for his efforts to modernize the Ottoman military and implement reforms.
People
Jafar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jafar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jafar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jafar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 646 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jafar 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 530,579 US residents.
Is Jafar a common name?
We classify Jafar as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 659 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jafar most popular?
The single biggest year for Jafar was 1994, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jafar is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jafar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,196 people with the name Jafar, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,931 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 Jafar 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 Jafar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jafar appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,195 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Jafar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafar is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (23.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.7%). 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 Jafar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jafar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (554 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 Jafar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jafar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jafar 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 Jafar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jafar 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 Jafar 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 common is the name Jafar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.