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

Irfan, 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 Irfan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Irfan in America

Irfan is the 32865th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Irfan surname appeared 698 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 Irfan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Irfan 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 Irfan

The surname IRFAN has its origins in the Arabic language and is derived from the Arabic word 'irfan' which means knowledge, cognition, or gnosis. It is believed that this name originated in the Middle East, particularly in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran, where Arabic was the predominant language during the medieval period.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname IRFAN can be traced back to the 8th century AD, during the Islamic Golden Age. This was a period of significant cultural, scientific, and intellectual advancements in the Muslim world, and it is likely that the name IRFAN was associated with scholars, philosophers, and intellectuals of that era.

One of the earliest known individuals bearing the surname IRFAN was Abu Nasr al-IRFAN, a renowned philosopher and mathematician who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century AD. His contributions to the fields of logic and metaphysics were highly regarded, and he is credited with preserving and expanding upon the works of ancient Greek thinkers.

Another notable figure with the surname IRFAN was Ibn al-IRFAN, a 12th-century Persian scholar and poet from the city of Nishapur, in present-day Iran. His poetic works, which often explored themes of mysticism and spirituality, have been widely celebrated and studied in the Persian literary tradition.

In the 14th century, the name IRFAN appears in the writings of the famous Moroccan traveler and scholar, Ibn Battuta. During his travels through the Middle East and Central Asia, Ibn Battuta encountered individuals bearing the surname IRFAN, indicating its widespread use across the Islamic world at that time.

The surname IRFAN also has a connection to the Ottoman Empire, where it was commonly used among the intellectual and scholarly classes. One notable figure was Mustafa IRFAN Pasha, an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) during the late 18th century.

Another prominent individual with the surname IRFAN was Maulana Abul Kalam IRFAN, a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher from India, who lived in the 19th century. His works on Islamic theology and mysticism had a significant impact on the intellectual and spiritual landscape of the subcontinent.

Throughout its history, the surname IRFAN has been associated with scholarship, knowledge, and intellectual pursuit, reflecting its Arabic roots and the cultural heritage of the regions where it originated and flourished.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Irfan

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

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 Irfan 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 Irfan 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 Irfan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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