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

Tarafa, 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 Tarafa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tarafa in America

Tarafa is the 89753rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tarafa surname appeared 206 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 Tarafa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tarafa 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 Tarafa

The surname Tarafa is believed to have originated in the Middle East, specifically in the Arabian Peninsula. It is an Arabic name that can be traced back to the pre-Islamic era, around the 6th century AD.

The name Tarafa is derived from the Arabic word "taraf," which means "edge" or "side." It is thought to have been initially used as a descriptive name, referring to someone who lived on the outskirts or the edge of a settlement or town.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Tarafa can be found in ancient Arabic poetry. A famous poet known as Tarafa ibn al-Abd al-Bakri, who lived in the 6th century AD, is considered one of the most renowned poets of the pre-Islamic era. His poetry is included in the Mu'allaqat, a collection of seven famous Arabic poems that were highly revered in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.

In the 9th century AD, a scholar and linguist named Tarafa ibn al-'Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim al-Baghdadi was born in Baghdad, Iraq. He was known for his expertise in Arabic grammar and literature, and his works were widely studied and referenced by subsequent scholars.

During the medieval period, the name Tarafa appeared in various regions of the Middle East and North Africa, including present-day Egypt, Syria, and Morocco. In the 12th century, a notable figure named Tarafa al-Andalusi was born in Seville, Spain, during the era of the Moorish rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

In the 14th century, a prominent religious scholar and jurist named Tarafa ibn al-'Izz al-Maqdisi was born in Jerusalem. He was known for his contributions to Islamic jurisprudence and his works on Sharia law.

In more recent history, a notable figure named Tarafa Baghajati, born in 1966 in Austria, is an Islamic scholar and the founder of the Austrian Muslim Initiative, an organization dedicated to promoting interfaith dialogue and integration of Muslims in Austrian society.

It is worth noting that the surname Tarafa has also been found in other regions, such as parts of Africa and South Asia, likely due to the spread of Arabic influence and culture through trade and migration over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tarafa

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

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

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

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