Saifullah
Masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "Sword of Allah".
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Saifullah. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Saifullah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saifullah births was 2022 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saifullah. 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 Saifullah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
2022
12 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,680
Tracked since 1996
Census
Saifullah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 238 people with the first name Saifullah, which placed it at #34,342 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
#34,342
National first-name rank
People counted
238
238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
77.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saifullah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saifullah is Asian/Pacific Islander at 77.7%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Saifullah 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 Saifullah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander77.7% · 185
- White6.3% · 15
- Black or African American6.3% · 15
- Two or more races5.9% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 4
Popularity
Saifullah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saifullah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 44 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Saifullah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saifullah 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 Saifullah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saifullahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saifullah
The name Saifullah is of Arabic origin and has its roots in the Arabic language. It is a compound name derived from the combination of two words, "Saif" meaning "sword" and "Ullah" meaning "God." Together, Saifullah translates to "Sword of God" or "The Sword of Allah."
This name finds its origins in Islamic history and culture. It is believed to have been first used during the early Islamic era, particularly during the time of the Islamic conquests and expansions in the 7th and 8th centuries CE. The name carries a strong connotation of strength, power, and the defense of faith.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Saifullah can be found in the historical accounts of the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled a vast empire stretching from North Africa to Central Asia between the 8th and 13th centuries CE. The name was not uncommon among warriors and military leaders during this period, reflecting the significance of martial prowess and the spread of Islam.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Saifullah. One such figure was Saifullah Khan (1670-1712), a Mughal governor and military commander who served under the Emperor Aurangzeb in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Another prominent bearer of the name was Saifullah Malik (1916-2002), a Pakistani politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1962 to 1965.
In the 19th century, Saifullah Khan Bahawalpuri (1831-1866) was a prominent Sufi scholar and spiritual leader from the region of Bahawalpur in present-day Pakistan. He was known for his contributions to Islamic mysticism and his efforts in promoting education and social reform.
More recently, Saifullah Munshi (1926-2019) was an Indian Urdu poet and writer who received numerous accolades, including the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2008. His works focused on themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
Another notable figure was Saifullah Najeeb (1924-2017), an Afghan poet, scholar, and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Afghanistan to several countries, including India and the United States. He was widely regarded for his literary contributions and his efforts in promoting Afghan culture and heritage.
People
Saifullah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saifullah 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
Saifullah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saifullah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saifullah 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Saifullah a common name?
We classify Saifullah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saifullah most popular?
The single biggest year for Saifullah was 2022, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saifullah 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 Saifullah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 238 people with the name Saifullah, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,342 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 Saifullah 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 Saifullah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saifullah appears almost entirely male. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Saifullah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saifullah is Asian/Pacific Islander at 77.7%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Saifullah most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Saifullah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.7% (185 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 Saifullah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saifullah a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saifullah 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 Saifullah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saifullah 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 Saifullah 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 Saifullah?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Saifullah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.