Tafari
One having the highest power, from the Amharic language.
Name Census estimates that about 932 living Americans carry the first name Tafari. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Tafari today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tafari births was 2023 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tafari. 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 Tafari with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
932
~ 1 in 367,762 Americans
Peak year
2023
51 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,760
Tracked since 1978
Census
Tafari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 681 people with the first name Tafari, which placed it at #16,519 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
#16,519
National first-name rank
People counted
681
681 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tafari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tafari is Black at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Tafari 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 Tafari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.7% · 577
- Two or more races8.1% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 32
- White1.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Tafari
Out of the 947 babies given the name Tafari since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Tafari as a male name
- Ranked #3,760 in 2024
- 30 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (51 births)
Tafari as a female name
- Ranked #16,020 in 2016
- 6 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tafari leans strongly male. 638 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 37 female bearers (5.5%).
Popularity
Tafari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tafari 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 250 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tafari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tafari 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 Tafari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tafaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Tafari, while New Jersey, North Carolina, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tafari
The name Tafari has its origins in the Amharic language of Ethiopia. It is derived from the Amharic word "teferi," which means "he who is revered" or "one who is respected."
The name Tafari has been in use in Ethiopia for centuries, with some of the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 13th century. It is believed that the name was initially used by members of the Solomonic dynasty, which ruled Ethiopia from the 13th to the 20th century.
One of the most notable historical figures to bear the name Tafari was Ras Tafari Makonnen (1892-1975), who later became known as Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. He was born Tafari Makonnen and was given the title "Ras," which means "head" or "prince." Ras Tafari ascended to the throne in 1930 and took the throne name Haile Selassie I, which means "Power of the Trinity."
Another prominent historical figure named Tafari was Tafari Banti (1804-1882), who was a military leader and nobleman in the Ethiopian Empire during the 19th century. He served as the governor of several provinces and played a significant role in the expansion of the empire.
In the realm of literature, Tafari is the name of a character in the 1962 novel "The Afro-American," written by the Ghanaian author and poet Frank Parkin. The novel explores themes of identity and cultural heritage in the context of the African diaspora.
Other notable individuals who have borne the name Tafari include Tafari Beyene (1936-2005), an Ethiopian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Tafari Mulatu (born 1948), an Ethiopian athlete who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Throughout history, the name Tafari has been associated with respect, reverence, and leadership, reflecting its Amharic roots. It has been carried by rulers, military leaders, politicians, and individuals who have made significant contributions to their communities and societies.
People
Tafari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tafari as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tafari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tafari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 932 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tafari 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 367,762 US residents.
Is Tafari a common name?
We classify Tafari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 947 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tafari most popular?
The single biggest year for Tafari was 2023, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tafari is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tafari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 681 people with the name Tafari, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,519 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 Tafari 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 Tafari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tafari leans strongly male. 638 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 37 female bearers (5.5%). 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 Tafari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tafari is Black at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Tafari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tafari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.7% (577 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 Tafari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tafari a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Tafari 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 Tafari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tafari 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 Tafari 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 Tafari?
Want to know how many people have the name Tafari? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.