Safiyyah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "pure, pious" or "serene".
Name Census estimates that about 713 living Americans carry the first name Safiyyah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Safiyyah today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Safiyyah births was 2018 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Safiyyah. 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
713
~ 1 in 480,721 Americans
Peak year
2018
34 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,263
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Safiyyah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Safiyyah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 205 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Safiyyah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Safiyyah 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 Safiyyah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Safiyyahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Safiyyah, while Texas, California, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Safiyyah
The name Safiyyah has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. It is derived from the Arabic root word "safa," which means "purity" or "clarity." The name carries a connotation of being pure, virtuous, and unblemished.
Safiyyah is a name with strong historical and religious significance in Islam. It is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and is associated with one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, Safiyyah bint Huyayy. She was a Jewish woman from the tribe of Banu Nadir who converted to Islam and married the Prophet in the 7th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Safiyyah can be found in the historical accounts of the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. Safiyyah bint Huyayy is remembered as a pious and influential figure in early Islamic history.
Throughout the centuries, several notable women have borne the name Safiyyah. One of the most famous was Safiyyah al-Zahra (born around 1188 CE), a renowned female scholar and poet from Baghdad, Iraq. She was highly respected for her knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and literature.
Another prominent figure was Safiyyah Shihab al-Din (1176-1261 CE), a Sufi mystic and writer from Damascus, Syria. She was known for her spiritual teachings and her work on interpreting mystical poetry.
In the modern era, Safiyyah Sultan (1915-1997) was an influential Egyptian writer and feminist activist. She was a pioneer in advocating for women's rights and education in the Arab world.
Safiyyah al-Bahlani (1908-1996) was a renowned Yemeni poet and educator. Her poetry focused on themes of love, nationalism, and social issues, and she played a significant role in promoting women's education in Yemen.
The name Safiyyah continues to be popular among Muslim communities around the world, carrying with it a rich legacy of purity, virtue, and historical significance within the Islamic tradition.
People
Safiyyah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Safiyyah 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
Safiyyah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Safiyyah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 713 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Safiyyah 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 480,721 US residents.
Is Safiyyah a common name?
We classify Safiyyah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 731 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Safiyyah most popular?
The single biggest year for Safiyyah was 2018, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Safiyyah is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Safiyyah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Safiyyah 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.
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.