Sharifa
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "noble" or "respected".
Name Census estimates that about 524 living Americans carry the first name Sharifa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharifa today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharifa births was 1981 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharifa. 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 Sharifa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
524
~ 1 in 654,111 Americans
Peak year
1981
27 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,957
Tracked since 1967
Census
Sharifa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,195 people with the first name Sharifa, which placed it at #10,939 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
#10,939
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,195 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharifa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharifa is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (36.3%) and White (11.6%). 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 Sharifa 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 Sharifa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.6% · 497
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.3% · 434
- White11.6% · 139
- Two or more races7.9% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Sharifa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharifa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 213 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
Sharifa 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 Sharifa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sharifas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Sharifa, while Texas, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharifa
The name Sharifa is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "sharif" meaning "noble" or "distinguished." It has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the early days of Islam.
The name Sharifa is closely associated with the concept of nobility and lineage in Arab societies. It was initially used to refer to those who claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad or his tribe, the Quraysh. The title "Sharif" was given to those who held a respected status within the community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sharifa can be found in Islamic literature and historical accounts from the 7th century CE. During this time, several women who were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad were referred to as "Sharifa" or "Sayyida," which also means "lady" or "noblewoman."
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable individuals who bore the name Sharifa. One such example is Sharifa Fatima Al-Fihri (born around 800 CE), a Muslim woman from Tunisia who is credited with founding the world's first university, the University of Al-Quaraouiyine in Fez, Morocco.
Another prominent figure is Sharifa Alkhanzadzhieva (1886-1951), a Dagestani poet and writer from Russia who played a significant role in promoting the literary and cultural traditions of her people.
In the Indian subcontinent, Sharifa Begum (1913-2009) was a renowned Pakistani singer and actress who made significant contributions to the world of music and film during the 20th century.
Sharifa Alkhateeb (born 1986) is a modern-day Jordanian social entrepreneur and advocate for women's rights, known for her work in promoting education and empowerment for marginalized communities.
Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (born 1976) is an American author and scholar whose works explore themes of race, identity, and urban landscapes, including her acclaimed book "Harlem Is Nowhere."
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Sharifa, reflecting its association with nobility, distinction, and cultural significance within various societies.
People
Sharifa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharifa 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
Sharifa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharifa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 524 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharifa 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 Sharifa a common name?
We classify Sharifa 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, 555 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharifa most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharifa was 1981, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharifa is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharifa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,195 people with the name Sharifa, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,939 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 Sharifa 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 Sharifa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharifa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,193 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Sharifa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharifa is Black at 41.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (36.3%) and White (11.6%). 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 Sharifa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sharifa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.6% (497 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 Sharifa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharifa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharifa 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 Sharifa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharifa 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 Sharifa 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 Sharifa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.