Nafis
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "precious" or "valuable".
Name Census estimates that about 524 living Americans carry the first name Nafis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nafis today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nafis births was 1992 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nafis. 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 Nafis with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
524
~ 1 in 654,111 Americans
Peak year
1992
28 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,720
Tracked since 1976
Census
Nafis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 552 people with the first name Nafis, which placed it at #19,274 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
#19,274
National first-name rank
People counted
552
552 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nafis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nafis is Black at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (35.3%) and White (5.1%). 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 Nafis 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 Nafis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.5% · 290
- Asian and Pacific Islander35.3% · 195
- White5.1% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 27
- Two or more races2.2% · 12
Popularity
Nafis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nafis from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 161 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nafis 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 Nafis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nafis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nafis
The name Nafis has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "nafis," which means "precious," "valuable," or "rare." The name is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD.
Nafis was a common name among Arabs during the medieval period, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa. It was often given to children as a way of expressing the parents' hope that their child would grow up to be a precious and valuable member of society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nafis can be found in the writings of the famous Arab poet and philosopher Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 AD). In one of his poems, he refers to a person named Nafis, suggesting that the name was in use during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nafis. One of the most famous was Nafis bin Iwaz Al-Kirmani (1210-1288 AD), a Persian physician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of anatomy and physiology. He is credited with being one of the first scholars to describe the pulmonary circulation system, which was a major breakthrough in medical knowledge at the time.
Another prominent figure with the name Nafis was Nafis Ahmad (1826-1896), an Indian Muslim writer and social reformer. He was a pioneer in promoting women's education and advocating for the abolition of practices such as child marriage and polygamy.
In the realm of literature, Nafis Sadik (1917-2017) was a renowned Pakistani writer and poet who wrote extensively in both Urdu and English. He was awarded the Pride of Performance, one of Pakistan's highest civilian honors, for his contributions to literature.
Nafis Sadullah (1942-2005) was a prominent Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer. His works often explored the themes of social injustice, poverty, and the struggles of the working class. He received numerous literary awards and accolades during his lifetime.
Another notable bearer of the name was Nafis Ullah Khan (1948-2009), a Pakistani nuclear scientist who played a pivotal role in the country's nuclear program. He was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest civilian honor, for his contributions to the field of nuclear physics.
People
Nafis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nafis 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
Nafis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nafis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 524 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nafis 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 654,111 US residents.
Is Nafis a common name?
We classify Nafis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 538 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nafis most popular?
The single biggest year for Nafis was 1992, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nafis is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nafis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 552 people with the name Nafis, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,274 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 Nafis 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 Nafis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nafis leans strongly male. 507 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 45 female bearers (8.2%). 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 Nafis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nafis is Black at 52.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (35.3%) and White (5.1%). 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 Nafis most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nafis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.5% (290 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 Nafis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nafis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nafis 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 Nafis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nafis 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 Nafis 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 Nafis?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Nafis at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.