2000
#24,350
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 964
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.36
Rare Last name
Safi
An Arabic surname meaning pure, virtuous, or sincere.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,196 Americans carry the last name Safi. That puts it at #8,615 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.22 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 81,686 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Safi 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Safi with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.2K
1 in 81,686
Census rank
#8,615
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,659 bearers of the surname Safi in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.22 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8615th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Safi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Two or More Races (16.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Safi
The surname SAFI is of Arabic origin and can be traced back to the 7th century AD, around the time of the Islamic conquests in the Middle East. The name is derived from the Arabic word "safi," which means "pure" or "sincere," and was likely used as a descriptive name or nickname for individuals with these qualities.
SAFI was initially concentrated in regions of the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in areas that are now part of modern-day Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. As the Islamic Empire expanded, the name spread to other parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and eventually to other regions around the world through migration and trade.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name SAFI can be found in the "Kitab al-Aghani" (Book of Songs), a 10th-century Arabic literary work compiled by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani. The book mentions a poet and musician named Abu Bakr al-Safi, who lived in the 9th century AD.
During the medieval period, the name SAFI appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, such as the "Muqaddimah" by the renowned scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), who mentioned individuals with the surname SAFI in his writings.
In the 13th century, a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic named Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili (1252-1334) lived in what is now northwestern Iran. He founded the Safaviyya Sufi order, which later gave rise to the Safavid dynasty that ruled Persia (modern-day Iran) from 1501 to 1736.
Another notable figure with the surname SAFI was Ahmad al-Safi (1557-1617), a prominent Moroccan Sufi scholar and poet who lived during the Saadian dynasty in Morocco.
During the Ottoman Empire, the SAFI surname was present among Turkish and Arabic-speaking populations within the empire's territories. One example is Mehmed Emin Pasha Safi (1847-1901), an Ottoman statesman and diplomat who served as the Ottoman ambassador to several European countries.
In more recent history, Mustafa al-Safi (1930-2013) was a Syrian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria from 1987 to 1991.
It's important to note that while this provides an overview of the surname SAFI's origins and some historical references, the name has likely been present in various communities and regions throughout history, and its usage and distribution may have varied over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Safi
Among Census respondents with the surname Safi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Two or More Races (16.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Safi 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 Safi surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander51.4% · 1,881
- White26.4% · 965
- Two or more races16.9% · 617
- Black or African American3.2% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 77
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Safi
Safi 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
#17,367
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,626
+662 bearers (+68.7%)
Per 100,000 0.55
Rank movement Up 6,983 places
2020
#8,615
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,659
+2,033 bearers (+125.0%)
Per 100,000 1.22
Rank movement Up 8,752 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #24,350 | 964 | 0.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #17,367 | 1,626 | 0.55 | +662 bearers (+68.7%) | Up 6,983 places |
| 2020 | #8,615 | 3,659 | 1.22 | +2,033 bearers (+125.0%) | Up 8,752 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 Safi 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 | #17,367 | #8,615 | 50.4% |
| Count | 1,626 | 3,659 | 125.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.55 | 1.22 | 122.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Safi bearers went from 1,626 to 3,659 (+125.0% change). The surname moved up 8,752 positions in the national ranking, going from #17,367 to #8,615.
FAQ
Safi surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Safi?
Name Census estimates that about 4,196 living Americans carry the surname Safi. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 81,686 residents.
How common is Safi?
Safi ranks #8,615 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.22 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,659 people with the surname Safi. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,196), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.22 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.22 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Safi.
Has Safi become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Safi went from 1,626 recorded bearers to 3,659. That is an increase of 2,033 (+125.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #17,367 to #8,615.
What does the Census say about the background of Safi?
Among Census respondents with the surname Safi, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (26.4%) and Two or More Races (16.9%). 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?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Safi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (1,881 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Safi appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (51.4%), White (26.4%), Two or More Races (16.9%). 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 Safi (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 Safi mean?
An Arabic surname meaning pure, virtuous, or sincere. 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 Safi (1.22 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 are called Safi?
You can see how many people are called Safi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.