Jafari
An Arabic name meaning "heavy stream" or "overflowing water".
Name Census estimates that about 212 living Americans carry the first name Jafari. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jafari today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jafari births was 2020 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jafari. 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.
People living today
212
~ 1 in 1,616,766 Americans
Peak year
2020
18 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,142
Tracked since 1973
Census
Jafari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Jafari, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jafari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafari is Black at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Jafari 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 Jafari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.3% · 209
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 10
- Two or more races2.6% · 6
- White1.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Jafari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jafari from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 56 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jafari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jafari 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 Jafari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jafari
The given name Jafari is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "Jafar" which means "stream" or "river." This name has its roots in the Middle East, particularly in regions where Arabic was the predominant language. The earliest recorded use of Jafari as a given name can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the Islamic Golden Age.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Jafari was Jafar al-Sadiq (702-765 CE), a prominent Muslim scholar and the sixth Imam in Shia Islam. He was revered for his vast knowledge and contributions to various fields, including jurisprudence, theology, and philosophy. His teachings and interpretations of Islamic law had a profound influence on the development of Shia thought and practices.
Another notable bearer of the name was Jafari bin Habib (784-853 CE), a renowned mathematician and astronomer from Khwarizm (modern-day Uzbekistan). He made significant contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry, and his works were widely studied and referenced by scholars throughout the Islamic world.
In the realm of literature, Jafari Qazi (1630-1689 CE) was a prominent Persian poet and scholar who served as the court poet during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. His poetry, which encompassed themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, was highly acclaimed and influential in the Persian literary tradition.
Moving forward in time, Jafari ibn Yahya (1855-1936 CE) was a prominent Sudanese religious leader and scholar who played a pivotal role in the Mahdist Revolution against the Ottoman-Egyptian rule in Sudan. He was a staunch supporter of the Mahdi, Muhammad Ahmad, and his teachings had a significant impact on the socio-political landscape of the region.
In more recent history, Jafari Arian (1925-2017 CE) was an Afghan politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan from 1963 to 1965. He played a crucial role in shaping Afghanistan's foreign policy during a tumultuous period in the country's history.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Jafari throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Jafari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jafari as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jafari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jafari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jafari 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 1,616,766 US residents.
Is Jafari a common name?
We classify Jafari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 217 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jafari most popular?
The single biggest year for Jafari was 2020, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jafari is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jafari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Jafari, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Jafari 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 Jafari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jafari leans strongly male. 222 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 10 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Jafari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafari is Black at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Jafari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Jafari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.3% (209 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 Jafari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jafari a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jafari 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 Jafari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jafari 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 Jafari 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 common is the name Jafari?
See how many people have the name Jafari on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.