2000
#150,436
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Safady
A surname likely derived from the Arabic word "safad" meaning serenity or tranquility.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 115 Americans carry the last name Safady. That puts it at #155,682 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,980,473 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Safady surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
115
1 in 2,980,473
Census rank
#155,682
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
100
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 100 bearers of the surname Safady in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155682nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Safady, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Safady
The surname Safady originated in the Levant region, encompassing modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and parts of Jordan. It traces its roots back to the 12th century, during the Crusades. The name is derived from the Arabic word "safad," which refers to the city of Safed in northern Israel. This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name may have hailed from or had ties to this historic city.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Safady surname can be found in a 13th-century manuscript from the Ayyubid dynasty, which ruled over parts of the Levant and Egypt at the time. The document mentions a certain "Ahmad al-Safadi," who was a prominent scholar and historian from Safed.
In the 14th century, the Safady name appears in records from the Mamluk Sultanate, which controlled the region after the Ayyubids. These records refer to several individuals bearing the name, including a merchant named Ibrahim Safady, who traded in spices and silk along the lucrative trade routes of the time.
During the Ottoman Empire's rule over the Levant, which lasted from the 16th to the early 20th century, the Safady name continued to be prevalent. One notable figure was Mustafa Safady, a 17th-century poet and calligrapher whose works were highly regarded in literary circles of the time.
In the 19th century, a branch of the Safady family migrated to Egypt, where they established themselves in the city of Alexandria. One of the most prominent members of this branch was Yusuf Safady, a renowned educator and author who founded several schools and published numerous works on Arabic literature and history between 1830 and 1890.
Another notable figure was Khalil Safady, born in 1879 in Beirut, who became a pioneering journalist and activist for Arab independence from Ottoman rule. His writings and activism played a significant role in shaping the Arab nationalist movement in the early 20th century.
Throughout its long history, the Safady surname has been associated with various place names and alternative spellings, such as Safadi, Safadi, and Safadi, reflecting the fluidity of Arabic naming conventions across different regions and time periods.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Safady
Among Census respondents with the surname Safady, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Safady bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Safady surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 88
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 9
- Two or more races2.0% · 2
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Safady
Safady appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
+8 bearers (+8.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,096 places
2020
#155,682
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
-8 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 4,150 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #150,436 | 100 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+8.0%) | Down 1,096 places |
| 2020 | #155,682 | 100 | 0.03 | -8 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 4,150 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Safady surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #151,532 | #155,682 | -2.7% |
| Count | 108 | 100 | -7.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -16.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Safady bearers went from 108 to 100 (-7.4% change). The surname moved down 4,150 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #155,682.
FAQ
Safady surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Safady?
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the surname Safady. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,980,473 residents.
How common is Safady?
Safady ranks #155,682 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 100 people with the surname Safady. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (115), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Safady.
Has Safady become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Safady went from 108 recorded bearers to 100. That is a decrease of 8 (-7.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #155,682.
What does the Census say about the background of Safady?
Among Census respondents with the surname Safady, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Safady in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (88 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Safady appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.0%), Hispanic (9.0%), Two or More Races (2.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Safady (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Safady mean?
A surname likely derived from the Arabic word "safad" meaning serenity or tranquility. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Safady (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Safady?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.