Mustafa
An Arabic name meaning "the chosen one" or "the elect".
Name Census estimates that about 6,916 living Americans carry the first name Mustafa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mustafa today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mustafa births was 2024 (304 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mustafa. 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 Mustafa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.9K
~ 1 in 49,560 Americans
Peak year
2024
304 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#820
Tracked since 1963
Census
Mustafa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,770 people with the first name Mustafa, which placed it at #2,103 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
#2,103
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,770 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mustafa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mustafa is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.1%) and Black (16.0%). 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 Mustafa 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 Mustafa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.1% · 7,034
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.1% · 2,827
- Black or African American16.0% · 2,045
- Two or more races5.8% · 743
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 111
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 10
Popularity
Mustafa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mustafa from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,243 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mustafa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mustafa 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 Mustafa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mustafas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Mustafa, while Nebraska, Kentucky, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 205 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mustafa
The name Mustafa is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "mustafa" which means "the chosen one" or "the elect." It is a name deeply rooted in Islamic tradition and history.
In the Islamic faith, Mustafa is one of the honorific titles bestowed upon the Prophet Muhammad, as he was considered the chosen messenger of God. This name holds immense significance and reverence within the Islamic faith.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mustafa can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad himself. It has been widely adopted by Muslims around the world as a way to honor the Prophet and his teachings.
Throughout history, the name Mustafa has been borne by numerous influential figures, including:
1. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, who played a pivotal role in the Turkish War of Independence and the establishment of modern Turkey.
2. Mustafa al-Nahas (1879-1965), an Egyptian politician and Prime Minister of Egypt, known for his efforts in promoting Egyptian nationalism and independence from British rule.
3. Mustafa Barzani (1903-1979), a Kurdish nationalist leader and the principal founder of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Iraq, who dedicated his life to the pursuit of Kurdish autonomy and self-determination.
4. Mustafa Khalil (1920-2008), an Egyptian-Canadian composer, musician, and ethnomusicologist, renowned for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Arab music.
5. Mustafa Zaidi (1935-2020), a Pakistani jurist and former Chief Justice of Pakistan, known for his efforts in upholding the rule of law and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary.
The name Mustafa has also been mentioned in various Islamic texts and historical records, further solidifying its significance within the Islamic tradition.
People
Mustafa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mustafa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mustafa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mustafa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,916 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mustafa 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 49,560 US residents.
Is Mustafa a common name?
We classify Mustafa as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,031 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mustafa most popular?
The single biggest year for Mustafa was 2024, when 304 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mustafa is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mustafa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,770 people with the name Mustafa, or 4.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,103 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 Mustafa 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 Mustafa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mustafa appears almost entirely male. Of the 12,765 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Mustafa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mustafa is White at 55.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.1%) and Black (16.0%). 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 Mustafa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mustafa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (7,034 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 Mustafa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mustafa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mustafa 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 Mustafa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mustafa 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 Mustafa 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 Mustafa?
You can see how many people have the name Mustafa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.