Find out how popular the last name Hafiz is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Hafiz.

Hafiz, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Hafiz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hafiz in America

Hafiz is the 38214th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hafiz surname appeared 580 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Hafiz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hafiz to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Hafiz

The surname "Hafiz" is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "Hafiz" meaning "one who has memorized the Quran." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East, particularly in countries with a significant Muslim population, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Syria.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic conquests and the spread of Islam across the Middle East and North Africa. The name was likely given to individuals who had achieved the esteemed status of being a "Hafiz" or a person who had memorized the entire Quran.

In the 11th century, the name gained prominence with the Persian poet and scholar Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafiz-e Shirazi, also known as Hafiz of Shiraz, who was born in 1315 in the city of Shiraz, Persia (present-day Iran). He is considered one of the greatest lyric poets in Persian literature and his works, including the "Divan-e Hafiz," have been widely celebrated and studied.

Another notable figure bearing the surname "Hafiz" was Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who lived from 1372 to 1449 in Cairo, Egypt. He is known for his contributions to the study of Hadith, the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.

In the 19th century, the name appeared in the records of the Ottoman Empire, with individuals like Ahmed Hafiz Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1819 to 1820.

The name has also been associated with places, such as Hafizabad, a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan, which was named after a local Sufi saint and scholar named Hafiz Muhammad Mohsin, who lived in the 18th century.

Other notable individuals who have borne the surname "Hafiz" include Hafiz Muhammad Syed, a Pakistani diplomat and scholar who served as the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 1974 to 1979, and Hafiz Shirazi, an Iranian classical singer and composer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hafiz

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Hafiz.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Hafiz was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Hafiz has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Hafiz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Hafiz, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!