Moustafa
An Arabic masculine name meaning "the chosen one".
Name Census estimates that about 345 living Americans carry the first name Moustafa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Moustafa today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moustafa births was 1999 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moustafa. 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 Moustafa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
345
~ 1 in 993,491 Americans
Peak year
1999
19 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,533
Tracked since 1985
Census
Moustafa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,029 people with the first name Moustafa, which placed it at #12,193 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
#12,193
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,029 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moustafa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moustafa is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Moustafa 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 Moustafa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.8% · 893
- Black or African American5.5% · 57
- Two or more races4.3% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 17
Popularity
Moustafa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moustafa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 112 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
Moustafa 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 Moustafa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moustafas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Moustafa
The name Moustafa has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 6th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic root word "mustafa," which means "the chosen one" or "the elect." This name holds significant importance in Islamic tradition as it was one of the titles given to the Prophet Muhammad.
Moustafa is a variant spelling of the Arabic name Mustafa, which has been widely used across the Middle East and North Africa for centuries. In some regions, such as Egypt and Syria, the spelling Moustafa became more prevalent due to local dialectal variations and influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Moustafa can be found in the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. In several verses, the Prophet Muhammad is referred to as "Al-Mustafa," which translates to "the chosen one." This association with the Prophet has contributed to the name's widespread popularity among Muslims worldwide.
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable individuals who bore the name Moustafa. One of the most famous examples is Moustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. He played a pivotal role in the Turkish War of Independence and the establishment of modern Turkey.
Another prominent figure was Moustafa al-Nahaas (1879-1965), an Egyptian politician and nationalist leader who served as Prime Minister of Egypt on multiple occasions. He was a key figure in Egypt's struggle for independence from British rule.
In the realm of literature, Moustafa Saadeq Al-Rafe'i (1880-1937) was an influential Egyptian writer, journalist, and intellectual known for his contributions to modern Arabic literature and his advocacy for social and political reform.
The name Moustafa also appears in the historical records of the Ottoman Empire. Moustafa Reşid Pasha (1800-1858) was a prominent Ottoman statesman and diplomat who played a crucial role in the implementation of the Tanzimat reforms, which aimed to modernize and Westernize the Ottoman state.
Another notable figure was Moustafa Fahmi (1888-1914), an Egyptian nationalist and one of the founders of the Egyptian Nationalist Party. He was instrumental in the struggle against British occupation and advocated for Egyptian independence.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Moustafa, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural and religious significance in the Arab and Islamic world.
People
Moustafa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moustafa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Moustafa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moustafa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 345 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moustafa 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 993,491 US residents.
Is Moustafa a common name?
We classify Moustafa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 351 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moustafa most popular?
The single biggest year for Moustafa was 1999, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moustafa 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 Moustafa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,029 people with the name Moustafa, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,193 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 Moustafa 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 Moustafa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moustafa appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,030 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Moustafa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moustafa is White at 86.8%. The next largest groups are Black (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Moustafa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Moustafa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.8% (893 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 Moustafa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moustafa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moustafa 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 Moustafa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moustafa 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 Moustafa 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 Moustafa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.