Tawaf
An Arabic name meaning circumambulation or circling around.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Tawaf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tawaf today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tawaf births was 2021 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tawaf. 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 Tawaf with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tawaf. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2021
6 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,972
Tracked since 2021
Popularity
Tawaf: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Tawaf 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 Tawaf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Tawaf
The name Tawaf is an Arabic word that means "circumambulation" or "to go around." It is derived from the root word taafa, which means "to circle" or "to go around." The name is most closely associated with the Islamic faith and the ritual of Tawaf, which is the circumambulation of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The Kaaba is a cubic building located at the center of the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Mecca, and it is considered the most sacred site in Islam. Muslims from all over the world perform the ritual of Tawaf during the Hajj pilgrimage, which is one of the five pillars of Islam. The ritual of Tawaf involves walking around the Kaaba seven times in a counterclockwise direction.
The name Tawaf is mentioned in the Quran, which is the central religious text of Islam. In the Quran, the word Tawaf is used to refer to the ritual of circumambulation around the Kaaba. The Quran also mentions that the Kaaba was built by the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Ismail (Ishmael) as a place of worship for the one true God.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Tawaf is from the 7th century CE, when the Islamic faith was founded. However, the ritual of Tawaf predates Islam and was practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs who inhabited the Arabian Peninsula.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tawaf. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Tawaf ibn Rabi'ah al-Ansari, who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and participated in the Battle of Badr in 624 CE.
Another notable individual with the name Tawaf was Tawaf ibn Abi Sufyan, who was a prominent military commander during the early years of the Islamic caliphate. He participated in several military campaigns and played a key role in the conquest of Persia in the 7th century CE.
In the 9th century CE, there was a famous poet and scholar named Tawaf ibn al-Ahmar, who was known for his mastery of the Arabic language and his contributions to the field of literature.
In more recent times, there was a Saudi Arabian businessman named Tawaf al-Zahrani, who was a prominent figure in the Saudi business community and was known for his philanthropic work.
Another notable individual with the name Tawaf was Tawaf al-Masri, who was an Egyptian scholar and writer who lived in the 20th century. He was known for his works on Islamic theology and his contributions to the field of Islamic studies.
People
Tawaf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tawaf 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
Tawaf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tawaf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tawaf 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Tawaf a common name?
We classify Tawaf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tawaf most popular?
The single biggest year for Tawaf was 2021, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tawaf is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Tawaf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tawaf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tawaf 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 Tawaf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tawaf 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 Tawaf 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Tawaf?
See how many people have the name Tawaf on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.