Khalfani
An African name meaning "traveler" or "one who voyages".
Name Census estimates that about 179 living Americans carry the first name Khalfani. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Khalfani today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khalfani births was 1977 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khalfani. 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.
People living today
179
~ 1 in 1,914,829 Americans
Peak year
1977
11 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,299
Tracked since 1975
Census
Khalfani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Khalfani, which placed it at #38,294 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
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khalfani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khalfani is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Khalfani 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 Khalfani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.1% · 175
- Two or more races7.0% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 8
- White2.0% · 4
Popularity
Khalfani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khalfani from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Khalfani 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 Khalfani 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 Khalfani
The name Khalfani has its origins in the Swahili language, which is spoken primarily in East Africa, including countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Swahili is a Bantu language that has been influenced by Arabic, Persian, and other languages due to historical trade routes and cultural exchanges.
Khalfani is derived from the Arabic root word "khalaf," which means "successor" or "one who comes after." The name is believed to have been introduced to the Swahili-speaking regions through Arab traders and settlers who brought their language and cultural influences to the East African coast.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Khalfani can be traced back to the 18th century, during the height of the Omani Arab sultanate's influence in the region. It was commonly given to male children as a way of expressing the hope that they would carry on the family's legacy and become worthy successors.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Khalfani was Khalfani Khamis Mazrui, a 19th-century Swahili poet and scholar from Mombasa, Kenya. He was renowned for his mastery of the Swahili language and his contributions to the region's literary tradition.
Another significant figure was Khalfani bin Bakar, a 19th-century Omani merchant and explorer who established trade routes between Zanzibar and the interior regions of East Africa. His travels and writings provided valuable insights into the cultures and societies of the time.
In the early 20th century, Khalfani Mrisho Chiume was a prominent Tanzanian politician and activist who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence from British colonial rule. He was a founding member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and served as a member of parliament after Tanzania gained its independence in 1961.
Another notable figure was Khalfani A. Khaldun, a 20th-century Kenyan scholar and author who wrote extensively on African history, culture, and the preservation of traditional knowledge. His works have been widely cited and studied in academic circles.
Khalfani Khamis Mohamed, born in 1941, was a Tanzanian novelist and playwright whose works explored themes of social justice, cultural identity, and the challenges faced by postcolonial societies in East Africa. His literary contributions have been recognized both nationally and internationally.
While the name Khalfani has its roots in the Swahili-speaking regions of East Africa, it has gained popularity and recognition in other parts of the world due to cultural diffusion and migration patterns. However, its historical significance and cultural connections to the coastal regions of Kenya, Tanzania, and nearby areas remain deeply rooted in its origin and meaning.
People
Khalfani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khalfani as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Khalfani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khalfani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 179 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khalfani 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 1,914,829 US residents.
Is Khalfani a common name?
We classify Khalfani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khalfani most popular?
The single biggest year for Khalfani was 1977, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khalfani is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khalfani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Khalfani, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 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 Khalfani 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 Khalfani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Khalfani leans strongly male. 195 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Khalfani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khalfani is Black at 87.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Khalfani most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Khalfani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.1% (175 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 Khalfani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khalfani a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Khalfani 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 Khalfani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khalfani 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 Khalfani 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 Khalfani?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.