Sadaf
A feminine Arabic name meaning "oyster".
Name Census estimates that about 622 living Americans carry the first name Sadaf. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sadaf today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sadaf births was 2024 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sadaf. 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 Sadaf with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
622
~ 1 in 551,052 Americans
Peak year
2024
27 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,987
Tracked since 1976
Census
Sadaf in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,135 people with the first name Sadaf, which placed it at #7,216 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
#7,216
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,135 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
74.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sadaf
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sadaf is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (16.6%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Sadaf 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 Sadaf at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander74.5% · 1,590
- White16.6% · 354
- Two or more races8.5% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 10
Popularity
Sadaf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sadaf from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 170 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Sadaf remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sadaf 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 Sadaf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sadafs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Virginia recorded the most babies named Sadaf, while Texas, Illinois, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sadaf
The name Sadaf has its origins in the Persian language and culture, dating back to ancient times in the region now known as modern-day Iran. It is derived from the Persian word "sadaf," which means "oyster shell" or "mother-of-pearl." This connection to the natural world and the beauty of the sea is reflected in the name's meaning and symbolism.
Sadaf is believed to have been used as a name in Persia as early as the 6th century CE, during the Sassanid Empire. It gained popularity among the Persian nobility and aristocracy, who were drawn to its elegant and poetic connotations. The name has also been found in ancient Persian literature and poetry, where it was often used as a metaphor for purity, grace, and feminine beauty.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sadaf was Sadaf Khatun, a princess from the Seljuk Empire, who lived in the 11th century CE. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of poets and scholars during her time. Another notable figure was Sadaf Banu Begum, a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Akbar, who lived in the 16th century CE and was known for her intelligence and diplomatic skills.
In the realm of literature, the name Sadaf has been immortalized in the works of renowned Persian poets such as Hafez and Rumi. Hafez, in particular, used the name Sadaf as a metaphor for a beautiful and pure soul in several of his ghazals or lyrical poems. Rumi, on the other hand, often referred to the oyster shell as a symbol of the soul's journey to find its true essence.
Moving forward in history, one of the most famous individuals with the name Sadaf was Sadaf Ghaznavi, a renowned Afghan poet and mystic who lived in the 17th century CE. Her collection of poems, known as the "Diwan-e-Sadaf," is considered a masterpiece of Persian literature and has been widely studied and admired for its depth and spiritual insights.
Another notable figure was Sadaf Khan, an influential Mughal noble and military commander who served under Emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century CE. He was known for his bravery and strategic prowess on the battlefield, and played a crucial role in many of the Mughal Empire's military campaigns.
In more recent times, the name Sadaf has continued to be popular in various parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia, particularly among Persian and Afghan communities. It has also gained recognition and appreciation among literary circles and poetry enthusiasts, who appreciate its rich cultural heritage and symbolic meaning.
People
Sadaf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sadaf as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sadaf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sadaf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 622 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sadaf 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 551,052 US residents.
Is Sadaf a common name?
We classify Sadaf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 640 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sadaf most popular?
The single biggest year for Sadaf was 2024, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sadaf is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sadaf in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,135 people with the name Sadaf, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,216 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 Sadaf 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 Sadaf?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sadaf leans strongly female. 2,081 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 53 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Sadaf?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sadaf is Asian/Pacific Islander at 74.5%. The next largest groups are White (16.6%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Sadaf most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sadaf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.5% (1,590 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 Sadaf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sadaf a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sadaf 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 Sadaf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sadaf 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 Sadaf 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 named Sadaf?
Find out how many people have the name Sadaf on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.