Asif
Arabic given name meaning "pardoner" or "forgiver".
Name Census estimates that about 572 living Americans carry the first name Asif. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Asif today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Asif births was 1982 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Asif. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Asif with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
572
~ 1 in 599,221 Americans
Peak year
1982
24 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,989
Tracked since 1973
Census
Asif in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,984 people with the first name Asif, which placed it at #5,668 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,668
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,984 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Asif
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asif is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Black (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Asif 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Asif at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander89.2% · 2,663
- White3.8% · 114
- Black or African American3.0% · 90
- Two or more races2.8% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
Popularity
Asif: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Asif from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 183 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Asif by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Asif during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Asifs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Asif, while Texas, California, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Asif
The given name Asif has its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word 'asif', which means 'sincere' or 'pure'. The name can be traced back to the 7th century AD, during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
Asif is mentioned in several Islamic texts, including the Qur'an and Hadith. In the Qur'an, the name is associated with Prophet Muhammad's companion, Asif ibn Barkhiya, who was known for his wisdom and knowledge. The Hadith also refers to Asif as a righteous man.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Asif can be found in the works of the famous Arab poet and scholar, Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 AD). He wrote about a man named Asif ibn Yahya, who was a renowned scholar and philosopher during the Abbasid Caliphate.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Asif. One of the most prominent was Asif Jah I (1671-1748), the first Nizam of Hyderabad, who established the Asaf Jahi dynasty in South India. Another famous Asif was Asif Razvi (1908-1975), a Pakistani scholar and writer who played a significant role in the country's literary and cultural scene.
In the realm of music, Asif Ali Khan (1939-2022) was a renowned Pakistani classical vocalist and recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. Asif Kapadia (born 1972) is a British filmmaker known for his award-winning documentaries, including "Senna" and "Amy".
Asif Iqbal (1942-2022) was a Pakistani cricketer who captained the national team in the 1970s and is considered one of the greatest batsmen in the country's history. Asif Zardari (born 1955) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Asif
People
Asif + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Asif as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Asif: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Asif?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 572 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Asif going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 599,221 US residents.
Is Asif a common name?
We classify Asif as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 590 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Asif most popular?
The single biggest year for Asif was 1982, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Asif is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Asif in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,984 people with the name Asif, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,668 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Asif in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Asif?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asif appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,996 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Asif?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asif is Asian/Pacific Islander at 89.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.8%) and Black (3.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Asif most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Asif in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (2,663 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Asif in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Asif a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Asif in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Asif still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Asif in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Asif can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Asif?
See how many people share the name Asif on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.