Explore the Family Name Jafari

The meaning of Jafari

Muslim (mainly Iran): surname denoting descent from or association with someone called Jafar, in particular from/with the sixth imam of the Shiite Muslims. Compare Jafri 1. Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Ali, Mehdi, Abdullah, Behzad, Fariba, Hossein, Jafar, Jamal, Jehad, Kianoosh, Ladan, Masoud.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Jafari has significantly increased in the United States from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 30,023rd most common surname and by 2010, it had risen to the 26,110th spot, demonstrating a 13.03% increase. The number of individuals with this last name also rose during this period from 737 to 938, marking a significant growth of 27.27%. The proportion per 100,000 people also saw an increase, going up from 0.27 to 0.32, an 18.52% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,023	#26,110	13.03%
Count	737	938	27.27%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.32	18.52%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Jafari

In terms of ethnicity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that the majority of individuals with the Jafari surname identify as White, with a slight increase from 75.17% in 2000 to 76.44% in 2010. Those who identify as Asian/Pacific Islander also saw a rise from 4.61% to 5.65%, while the Hispanic population experienced a smaller growth from 1.63% to 1.81%. Interestingly, the number of Jafaris identifying with two or more ethnic identities dropped by 13.66%, from 16.55% in 2000 to 14.29% in 2010. There were no Jafaris who identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, which remained unchanged from 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	75.17%	76.44%	1.69%
Two or More Races	16.55%	14.29%	-13.66%
Asian/Pacific Islander	4.61%	5.65%	22.56%
Hispanic	1.63%	1.81%	11.04%
Black	2.04%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%