Explore the Family Name Ghafoor

The meaning of Ghafoor

Muslim: from a variant of the Arabic personal name Ghafūr, from ghafūr ‘forgiving, merciful’. Al-Ghaffūr ‘the All-Forgiving’ is an attribute of Allah, also seen in the compound name ʿAbd al-Ghafūr, ʿAbdul-Ghafūr ‘servant of the All-Forgiving’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Ghafoor in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ghafoor has seen an increase in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 68,973rd most common name in the United States with a count of 266 occurrences. By 2010, however, its rank had significantly improved to 49,268th with an increased count of 427 occurrences, a rise of 60.53 percent. The proportion per 100,000 people also rose by 40.0 percent, from 0.1 in 2000 to 0.14 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#68,973	#49,268	28.57%
Count	266	427	60.53%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.14	40%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ghafoor

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Ghafoor also experienced changes between 2000 and 2010 according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased by 15.39 percent, from 56.02 percent in 2000 to 64.64 percent in 2010. This was followed by a growth in the white population from 9.77 percent to 19.20 percent, a significant 96.52 percent increase. However, those identifying with two or more races experienced a decrease -- from 12.78 percent to 5.62 percent. The Black population also saw a decline from 20.30 percent to 9.84 percent. The Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native percentages remained constant at zero.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	56.02%	64.64%	15.39%
White	9.77%	19.2%	96.52%
Black	20.3%	9.84%	-51.53%
Two or More Races	12.78%	5.62%	-56.03%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%