Yousaf
An Arabic masculine name meaning "the increaser" or "he will increase".
Name Census estimates that about 225 living Americans carry the first name Yousaf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yousaf today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yousaf births was 2023 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yousaf. 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 Yousaf with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
225
~ 1 in 1,523,353 Americans
Peak year
2023
20 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,799
Tracked since 1993
Census
Yousaf in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 404 people with the first name Yousaf, which placed it at #24,004 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
#24,004
National first-name rank
People counted
404
404 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
75.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yousaf
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yousaf is Asian/Pacific Islander at 75.0%. The next largest groups are White (14.9%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Yousaf 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 Yousaf at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander75.0% · 303
- White14.9% · 60
- Two or more races5.0% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 11
- Black or African American2.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Yousaf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yousaf from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 110 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yousaf remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yousaf 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 Yousaf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yousafs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Yousaf, while Texas, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yousaf
Yousaf is a masculine given name derived from the Arabic name Yusuf, which itself is the Arabic form of the Hebrew name Joseph. The name traces its origins back to ancient Semitic languages, with the Hebrew root "yasaf" meaning "to add" or "to increase."
The name Yusuf appears in the Quran as the name of the prophet Joseph, son of Jacob. The story of Joseph is recounted in detail in the 12th chapter of the Quran, describing his trials, tribulations, and eventual rise to a position of power in Egypt. This account has made the name Yusuf and its variants popular among Muslims around the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yousaf can be found in the writings of the 13th-century Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi, who mentions a Sufi saint named Yousaf al-Hamadani in his poetic works. This suggests that the variant spelling Yousaf was already in use by that time in parts of the Muslim world.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Yousaf. One of the most famous was Yousaf Khan Hotaki (1672-1738), an Afghan military leader who briefly ruled Persia from 1722 to 1725 after overthrowing the Safavid dynasty. His reign, though short-lived, marked a significant period in the history of the region.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Yousaf Raza Gillani (born 1952), a Pakistani politician who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012. His tenure was marked by various political challenges and ultimately ended with his disqualification by the Supreme Court.
In literature, Yousaf Idris (1927-1991) was an influential Egyptian writer and playwright. His works explored social and political themes, and he is considered one of the pioneers of the modern Arabic short story genre.
The name Yousaf has also been borne by several religious figures, including Yousaf al-Nabhani (1849-1932), a prominent Islamic scholar and the founder of the Nabhani movement in Syria and Lebanon.
Lastly, Yousaf Salah Uddin (born 1935) is a renowned Indian poet and writer who has made significant contributions to Urdu literature. His works have explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, earning him numerous honors and awards.
People
Yousaf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yousaf as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yousaf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yousaf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 225 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yousaf 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 1,523,353 US residents.
Is Yousaf a common name?
We classify Yousaf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yousaf most popular?
The single biggest year for Yousaf was 2023, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yousaf is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yousaf in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 404 people with the name Yousaf, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,004 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 Yousaf 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 Yousaf?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yousaf appears almost entirely male. Of the 391 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 Yousaf?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yousaf is Asian/Pacific Islander at 75.0%. The next largest groups are White (14.9%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Yousaf most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yousaf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (303 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 Yousaf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yousaf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yousaf 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 Yousaf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yousaf 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 Yousaf 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 Yousaf?
See how many people have the name Yousaf on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.