Affan
Masculine · “chaste”
Affan is an Arabic name best known as a patronymic — Uthman ibn Affan was the third caliph, and his father's name is the one carried here.
How old is the name Affan?
Affan first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Affan is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Affan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Affan most popular?
Affan peaked in 2019, reaching #2421 nationally. Today it ranks #4396, 1,975 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From iffa to Affan
The story of Affan
Uthman ibn Affan was the third caliph and the one under whom the Qur'an was compiled into its standard written form — an editorial act of considerable consequence. His father Affan is otherwise little recorded. The name is used across the Arab world and South Asia, and reaches American and British records with Pakistani and Indian families in particular.
Meaningscholars disagree
chaste, modest
Generally read from an Arabic root meaning to be chaste or to abstain from what is unseemly; iffa is the noun for that quality. The reading is standard and not certain, as with many pre-Islamic Arabian names.
How the name formed
- iffa
- Affan
Related forms: Affan · Affan · Affan
Pronouncing Affan
AF-fan
Two syllables, first stressed; the doubled f is held audibly in Arabic.
Nicknames for Affan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 201955 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2421reached in 2019
- Change vs 2024
- −4.2%23 in 2025, from 24
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Affan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Affan in Arabic — same name
- Affan in Urdu — same name
- Affan in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Texas, California.
Affans among us
people named Affan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 74,264 born in 2025 was named Affan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Abisai test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Affan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Abisai climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Abisai's path sketches the road Affan is walking now.
Affan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Affan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Affan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A meaning about restraint, which is an unusual and serious thing for a name.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Recognized across the Arab world and South Asia.
- The doubled f is held in Arabic and flattened by English speakers.
- The reading is standard but not fully settled.
- It is close to Affan, Adnan and Irfan in an English ear.
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What they receive
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Affan
Masculine · #4396 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Affans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Affan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Affan in 2025?
- Affan ranks #4396 among US boy names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Affan?
- About 1 in every 74,264 US boys born in 2025 was named Affan — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Affan with classmates?
- Affan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Affan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Odell#4396 · Corwin#4396 · Tennyson#4396 · Marques#4396 · Manu#4396 · Omid#4396 · Zackariah#4396 · Burton#4396
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Affan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Affan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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