# Jafar (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/jafar/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Jaafar |
| US babies named this | 671 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 671 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 109, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic جَعْفَر (jaʕfar). A transliteration of an Arabic and Persian male given name.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 19 | 4,888 |
| 2012 | 18 | 5,119 |
| 2013 | 15 | 5,771 |
| 2014 | 21 | 4,606 |
| 2015 | 17 | 5,380 |
| 2016 | 19 | 5,014 |
| 2017 | 15 | 5,910 |
| 2018 | 20 | 4,821 |
| 2019 | 11 | 7,355 |
| 2020 | 15 | 5,817 |
| 2021 | 11 | 7,301 |
| 2022 | 12 | 6,989 |
| 2023 | 20 | 4,956 |
| 2024 | 22 | 4,623 |
| 2025 | 12 | 6,961 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 4 | 3,009 |
| 2006 | 4 | 3,385 |
| 2007 | 6 | 2,741 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2009 | 5 | 3,227 |
| 2011 | 6 | 2,892 |
| 2012 | 5 | 3,416 |
| 2013 | 5 | 3,315 |
| 2014 | 9 | 2,248 |
| 2015 | 5 | 3,373 |
| 2016 | 10 | 2,175 |
| 2017 | 8 | 2,512 |
| 2018 | 9 | 2,259 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |

## People named Jafar

- Ja'far ibn Abī Tālib, Companion (Sahabi) and cousin of Muhammad (c. 590–629)
- Ja'far ibn Yahya, 8th century Vizier of Harun al-Rashid's Court
- Jafar Jabbarly, Azerbaijani playwright, poet, director and screenwriter (1899-1934)
- Ja'far Pishevari, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party and the National Government of Azerbaijan.
- Jafar al-Askari, 3rd and 6th prime minister of Mandatory Iraq (1885–1936)
- Jafar Arias, Curaçaoan professional footballer
- Ja'far ibn Fallah, fatimid military commander (died 971)
- Al-Mutawakkil, 10th Abbasid caliph (822–861, r. 847–861)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.