Explore the Family Name Rafiq

The meaning of Rafiq

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic rafīq ‘intimate friend, companion’. Compare Rafique. Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Mohammad, Muhammad, Mohammed, Abdal, Abdul, Adnan, Agha, Ahmad, Amina, Amjad, Ashraf, Azhar.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Rafiq has seen a significant increase in the United States between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Rafiq ranked 37,881st in frequency among surnames, but moved up to 27,110th by 2010, marking a change of 28.43%. The count of individuals with this surname also increased from 551 in 2000 to 893 in 2010, a growth of 62.07%. Consequently, the proportion of people named Rafiq per 100,000 residents rose by 50% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#37,881	#27,110	28.43%
Count	551	893	62.07%
Proportion per 100k	0.2	0.3	50%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rafiq

Regarding ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that individuals with the surname Rafiq primarily identify as Asian/Pacific Islander. This group made up 62.43% of all Rafiqs in 2000 and expanded to 74.47% by 2010, a change of 19.29%. Simultaneously, those identifying as two or more races declined significantly, from 19.78% in 2000 to 6.72% in 2010. The percentage of Rafiqs identifying as white also saw a modest decrease between the years. Those choosing Hispanic identity experienced a slight growth, from 2.54% to 3.02%. There were no recorded instances of Rafiqs identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
Asian/Pacific Islander	62.43%	74.47%	19.29%
White	13.25%	12.43%	-6.19%
Two or More Races	19.78%	6.72%	-66.03%
Hispanic	2.54%	3.02%	18.9%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%