Nafeesah
An Arabic feminine name meaning delicate, precious, or elegant.
Name Census estimates that about 194 living Americans carry the first name Nafeesah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nafeesah today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nafeesah births was 1979 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nafeesah. 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 Nafeesah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
194
~ 1 in 1,766,775 Americans
Peak year
1979
24 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,999
Tracked since 1976
Census
Nafeesah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Nafeesah, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nafeesah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nafeesah is Black at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.2% · 202
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 7
- Two or more races3.0% · 7
- White2.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
Popularity
Nafeesah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nafeesah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 92 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nafeesahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia recorded the most babies named Nafeesah, while Georgia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nafeesah
The name Nafeesah originates from the Arabic language and is derived from the root word "nafees," which means "precious" or "valuable." It is a feminine name that has been in use since ancient times in the Arab world.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Nafeesah can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. This was a period of great cultural, scientific, and intellectual advancement in the Middle East and North Africa.
While the name Nafeesah is not directly mentioned in religious texts like the Quran or Hadith, it is believed to have been inspired by the Islamic values of modesty, purity, and virtue, which are often associated with the concept of "preciousness."
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Nafeesah was Nafeesah bint Al-Hassan (born circa 680 CE), who was a renowned scholar and poet from the Abbasid Caliphate. She was renowned for her knowledge of Arabic literature and her contributions to the development of the Arabic language.
Another notable figure was Nafeesah Al-Andalusiyah (born in 1165 CE), a renowned poet and writer from Al-Andalus (modern-day Spain). She was celebrated for her mastery of Arabic poetry and her elegant literary style, which earned her widespread acclaim during her lifetime.
In the 13th century, Nafeesah bint Al-Mundhir (born circa 1220 CE) was a prominent female scholar and jurist from the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. She was highly respected for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her contributions to the study of Islamic law.
During the Ottoman Empire, Nafeesah Hanim (born in 1554 CE) was a renowned calligrapher and artist. She was known for her exquisite works of calligraphy, which were often commissioned by the Ottoman sultans and their royal court.
In more recent history, Nafeesah Ali (1939-2018) was a Pakistani author and journalist who made significant contributions to the literary and journalistic landscape of her country. She was widely acclaimed for her novels, short stories, and newspaper columns, which often explored themes of social justice and women's rights.
These are just a few examples of the many notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Nafeesah, each contributing to the rich cultural heritage and legacy associated with this beautiful and meaningful name.
People
Nafeesah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nafeesah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nafeesah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nafeesah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nafeesah 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 1,766,775 US residents.
Is Nafeesah a common name?
We classify Nafeesah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 206 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nafeesah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nafeesah was 1979, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nafeesah is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nafeesah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Nafeesah, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nafeesah appears almost entirely female. Of the 233 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Nafeesah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nafeesah is Black at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Nafeesah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nafeesah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.2% (202 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 Nafeesah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nafeesah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah 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 Nafeesah?
You can see how many people share the name Nafeesah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.