Lateefah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "delicate, graceful, gentle".
Name Census estimates that about 576 living Americans carry the first name Lateefah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lateefah today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lateefah births was 1979 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lateefah. 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 Lateefah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
576
~ 1 in 595,060 Americans
Peak year
1979
62 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2006 SSA rank
#18,809
Tracked since 1971
Census
Lateefah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 599 people with the first name Lateefah, which placed it at #18,098 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
#18,098
National first-name rank
People counted
599
599 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lateefah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lateefah is Black at 87.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Lateefah 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 Lateefah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.0% · 521
- White6.5% · 39
- Two or more races4.2% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Popularity
Lateefah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lateefah from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 254 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lateefah 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 Lateefah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lateefahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Lateefah, while California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lateefah
Lateefah is a feminine given name of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "latif" which means "kind," "gentle," or "subtle." The name is believed to have its roots in the Middle East, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula, where Arabic is the predominant language.
The earliest known record of the name Lateefah can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic Golden Age. It is possible that the name appeared in ancient Arabic texts or religious scriptures from this period, reflecting the cultural and linguistic influences of the region.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lateefah was a renowned scholar and poet from the 9th century, known as Lateefah bint al-Ma'mun. She was the daughter of the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun and was celebrated for her intellectual prowess and contributions to literature.
In the 12th century, another prominent figure named Lateefah emerged in the form of a Sufi mystic and poet from Persia (modern-day Iran). Her full name was Lateefah al-Baghdadiyah, and she was renowned for her spiritual teachings and poetic works, which explored themes of divine love and mysticism.
During the 14th century, a notable individual named Lateefah al-Andalusiyah lived in the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal). She was a renowned scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy.
Another historical figure bearing the name Lateefah was a 16th-century Ottoman calligrapher and artist from Turkey, known as Lateefah Hanim. Her intricate calligraphic works and illuminated manuscripts were highly regarded and are preserved in various museums and collections around the world.
In more recent times, one of the most recognizable individuals with the name Lateefah was Lateefah King, an American civil rights activist, and politician born in 1976. She served as a member of the California State Assembly and was widely acclaimed for her advocacy work in support of marginalized communities.
While the name Lateefah has its roots in the Arab world, it has since been embraced by various cultures and communities around the globe, reflecting its enduring appeal and the diverse interpretations of its meaning.
People
Lateefah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lateefah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lateefah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lateefah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 576 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lateefah 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 595,060 US residents.
Is Lateefah a common name?
We classify Lateefah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 617 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lateefah most popular?
The single biggest year for Lateefah was 1979, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lateefah is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lateefah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 599 people with the name Lateefah, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,098 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 Lateefah 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 Lateefah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lateefah appears almost entirely female. Of the 605 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lateefah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lateefah is Black at 87.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Lateefah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lateefah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.0% (521 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 Lateefah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lateefah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lateefah in the SSA data are female. 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 Lateefah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lateefah 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 Lateefah 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 are called Lateefah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.