Jafet
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will enlarge" or "may he expand".
Name Census estimates that about 1,380 living Americans carry the first name Jafet. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jafet today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jafet births was 2015 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jafet. 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.
Key insights
- • Jafet is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,373 Americans
Peak year
2015
68 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,799
Tracked since 1986
Census
Jafet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,483 people with the first name Jafet, which placed it at #9,381 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
#9,381
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,483 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jafet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafet is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Jafet 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 Jafet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.3% · 1,428
- White1.8% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
- Black or African American0.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Jafet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jafet from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 522 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Jafet remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jafet 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 Jafet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jafets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Jafet, while Tennessee, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 80 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jafet
The name Jafet is derived from the Hebrew name Yefet, which is believed to have originated from the root word "nafah," meaning "to be open" or "to spread out." This name has its roots in ancient Semitic culture and can be traced back to biblical times.
Jafet is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as one of the three sons of Noah, along with Shem and Ham. According to the biblical account, Jafet and his descendants were responsible for populating the lands north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea regions. This association with Jafet's biblical heritage has contributed to the enduring significance of this name throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Jafet was Jafet ben Ali, a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 10th century CE in present-day Iraq. He is renowned for his contributions to the field of Islamic philosophy and his influential work on the reconciliation of Jewish and Islamic thought.
In the 12th century, Jafet ben Natan, a renowned Jewish scholar from Spain, gained recognition for his grammatical works and biblical commentaries. His interpretations of the Hebrew Bible were widely studied and had a lasting impact on Jewish scholarship during the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain.
During the 16th century, Jafet Barzilai, an Italian Jewish scholar and physician, made significant contributions to the field of medicine. He was also known for his expertise in Hebrew grammar and his translations of medical texts from Arabic into Latin.
In the 19th century, Jafet Schwarz, a German-Jewish painter and lithographer, gained recognition for his portraits and lithographic works depicting prominent figures of his time. His artistic legacy left a lasting imprint on the cultural landscape of 19th-century Germany.
Another notable figure was Jafet Hacohen, a prominent Israeli politician and lawyer who played a crucial role in the establishment of the State of Israel. He served as a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) and held various ministerial positions, including Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have borne the name Jafet throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields, ranging from religion and scholarship to art and politics. The name's enduring presence across multiple cultures and time periods highlights its rich historical significance and cultural resonance.
People
Jafet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jafet 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
Jafet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jafet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jafet 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 248,373 US residents.
Is Jafet a common name?
We classify Jafet as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jafet most popular?
The single biggest year for Jafet was 2015, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jafet is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jafet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,483 people with the name Jafet, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,381 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 Jafet 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 Jafet?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jafet leans strongly male. 1,459 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 28 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Jafet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jafet is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Jafet most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jafet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (1,428 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 Jafet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jafet a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jafet 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 Jafet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jafet 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 Jafet 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 people share the name Jafet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.