Explore the Family Name Jafar

The meaning of Jafar

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic jaʿfar ‘spring, source, rivulet’. It was borne by the sixth imam of the Shiite Muslims, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (c.702–65). Compare Jaafar, Jaffar, and Jaffer.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Jafar has seen a significant shift between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Jafar ranked 60,557 in terms of frequency but jumped to 47,706 by 2010 - an increase of 21.22%. The number of individuals with the Jafar surname also increased from 311 to 444, a stunning growth rate of 42.77%. This indicates that for every 100,000 people in the U.S., the proportion named Jafar increased from 0.12 to 0.15 during this period, a rise of 25%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#60,557	#47,706	21.22%
Count	311	444	42.77%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.15	25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Jafar

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Jafar also evolved over the same ten-year span, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the percentage of the Asian/Pacific Islander group with this surname slightly increased from 31.83% to 33.78%, it drastically dropped for those identifying with two or more races, moving from 17.68% to 6.76%. Individuals identifying as White with the surname Jafar saw a substantial increase - up from 40.19% to 46.62%. Furthermore, there was an uptick among Black individuals, up from 7.4% to 9.91%. However, the census data reported no Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native persons with the Jafar surname in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	40.19%	46.62%	16%
Asian/Pacific Islander	31.83%	33.78%	6.13%
Black	7.4%	9.91%	33.92%
Two or More Races	17.68%	6.76%	-61.76%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%