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

Jaffer, 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 Jaffer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jaffer in America

Jaffer is the 30767th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jaffer surname appeared 757 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 Jaffer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jaffer 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 Jaffer

The surname Jaffer is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic name "Jafar," which means "stream" or "rivulet." This name was likely given to individuals who lived near a small body of water or a stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jaffer can be found in the historical records of the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled a vast empire stretching from North Africa to Central Asia between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this time, the name Jaffer was commonly used among Arabic-speaking populations.

In the 11th century, the name Jaffer appeared in the writings of the famous Persian philosopher and polymath, Al-Biruni. He mentioned a scholar named Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, who made significant contributions to mathematics and astronomy.

As the Arabic influence spread across various regions, the name Jaffer also travelled to different parts of the world. In the Indian subcontinent, for instance, the name Jaffer became popular among Muslim communities during the Mughal Empire, which ruled from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

One notable figure with the surname Jaffer was Jafar Khan Zand, an Iranian ruler who founded the Zand dynasty in the 18th century. He was born in 1714 and ruled from 1751 until his death in 1779.

Another prominent individual with the surname Jaffer was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadur, an Indian Muslim philosopher, jurist, and scholar born in 1817. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University and is considered a pioneer of modern education in the subcontinent.

In the 20th century, Jaffer Sharif, a Tanzanian politician and statesman, made a notable impact. He served as the first Vice President of Tanzania from 1964 to 1979 and played a crucial role in the country's independence movement.

Another notable figure was Jafar Sharif-Emami, an Iranian politician and Prime Minister of Iran from 1960 to 1961. He was born in 1910 and played a significant role in the country's political landscape during the mid-20th century.

Historically, the surname Jaffer has been associated with various regions and cultures, reflecting the spread of Arabic influence and the migration of individuals with this name across different parts of the world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jaffer

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

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

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

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