Safira
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "precious stone" or "golden."
Name Census estimates that about 264 living Americans carry the first name Safira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Safira today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Safira births was 2022 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Safira. 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 Safira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
264
~ 1 in 1,298,312 Americans
Peak year
2022
22 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,311
Tracked since 1984
Census
Safira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 311 people with the first name Safira, which placed it at #28,739 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
#28,739
National first-name rank
People counted
311
311 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
32.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Safira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Safira is Hispanic at 32.8%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Black (20.6%). 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 Safira 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 Safira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino32.8% · 102
- White25.7% · 80
- Black or African American20.6% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.2% · 41
- Two or more races7.1% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Safira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Safira from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 121 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Safira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Safira 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 Safira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Safiras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Safira
The given name Safira has its origins in the Arabic language, specifically from the word "saffar" which translates to "goldsmith" or "jeweler." This name gained popularity during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa, where the trade and craftsmanship of precious metals and gemstones flourished.
Historically, the name Safira has been associated with beauty, radiance, and precious gemstones, particularly the sapphire. In ancient Arabic literature, the name Safira was often used as a poetic metaphor to describe the brilliance and allure of a woman's eyes or her captivating presence.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Safira can be found in the writings of the renowned 9th-century Arab poet, Abu Tammam. He composed a poem celebrating the beauty of a woman named Safira, describing her as a "jewel among women."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Safira. In the 12th century, Safira al-Andalusiya was a renowned poet and scholar from the Andalusian region of Spain. Her poetic works, which explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality, gained widespread acclaim during her lifetime.
In the 16th century, Safira Bint Abdullah was a prominent female Islamic scholar from the Ottoman Empire. She was renowned for her expertise in various fields, including jurisprudence, theology, and literature, and contributed significantly to the intellectual discourse of her time.
During the 19th century, Safira Iskandarani was a celebrated Syrian artist and calligrapher. Her intricate calligraphic works, which adorned the walls of numerous mosques and palaces, were highly revered for their beauty and precision.
In more recent times, Safira Medhatie was an influential Iranian writer and activist in the late 20th century. She is best known for her novels and essays that shed light on the struggles and triumphs of women in Iranian society.
Safira Vali was a renowned Afghan singer and musician who gained international recognition in the 1970s and 1980s for her powerful voice and contributions to the preservation of Afghan musical traditions.
The name Safira has transcended geographical boundaries and cultural divides, carrying with it a rich tapestry of history, beauty, and artistic expression that has resonated across centuries and civilizations.
People
Safira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Safira as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Safira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Safira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 264 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Safira 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 1,298,312 US residents.
Is Safira a common name?
We classify Safira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 267 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Safira most popular?
The single biggest year for Safira was 2022, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Safira is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Safira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 311 people with the name Safira, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,739 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 Safira 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 Safira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Safira appears almost entirely female. Of the 312 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 Safira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Safira is Hispanic at 32.8%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Black (20.6%). 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 Safira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Safira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.8% (102 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 Safira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Safira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Safira 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 Safira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Safira 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 Safira 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 Safira?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.