Hafsa
Feminine · “lion cub”
Hafsa has been in continuous use since the seventh century, when it belonged to Hafsa bint Umar, one of the wives of Muhammad and, in Islamic tradition, the keeper of an early written copy of the Qur'an. Twelve hundred years later it was still being given in Muslim Spain, in the Ottoman court, and across West Africa. Two syllables, both short, with that crisp f-s in the middle that keeps it from ever sounding drawn out.
How old is the name Hafsa?
Hafsa first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Hafsa is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,600 people named Hafsa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hafsa most popular?
Hafsa peaked in 2025, reaching #1452 nationally. Today it ranks #1452, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ḥafṣ to Hafsa
The story of Hafsa
The name is Arabic and its record begins in seventh-century Arabia with Hafsa bint Umar, daughter of the caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab, remembered in Islamic tradition as the custodian of one of the earliest written collections of the Qur'an. That association carried it wherever Islam went. In twelfth-century Granada it belonged to Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rakuniyya, one of the best-known poets of Muslim Spain; in the sixteenth century it belonged to Ayşe Hafsa Sultan, mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. It reached American records much more recently, through families with roots in South Asia, the Arab world, Turkey and East and West Africa — which is why it turns up most in the big immigrant-receiving states rather than spread evenly.
Meaningscholars disagree
lion cub, young lioness
The usual reading traces it to Arabic ḥafṣ, a lion cub or young lion, with Hafsa as the feminine of the older masculine name Hafs. A second tradition connects it instead to the sense of gathering or collecting together. Both readings are old and both are argued seriously; neither has pushed the other out.
How the name formed
- Ḥafṣ
- Ḥafṣa
- Hafsa
Related forms: حفصة · Hafsa · حفصہ · Hafsah · Hafza · Hafsat
Pronouncing Hafsa
HAF-suh
Stress on the first syllable. In Arabic the opening consonant is the pharyngeal ḥ, made further back in the throat than an English h, and the final vowel is a clean -ah: HAHF-sah. Turkish keeps that fuller final vowel too. English speakers reliably land close enough on the first try.
Nicknames for Hafsa
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
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 2023151 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1452reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +4.2%148 in 2025, from 142
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.
Hafsa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- حفصة in Arabic — same name
- Hafsa in Turkish — same name
- حفصہ in Urdu — same name
- Hafsah in English (transliteration) — spelling variant
- Hafza in Bosnian — spelling variant
- Hafsat in Hausa — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Hafsas among us
people named Hafsa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 10,860 born in 2025 was named Hafsa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Hafsa
- #1452
- Hafsa on the 2025 chart
- #783
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Hafsa went to 148 girls in 2025, but Hafsah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 177, which makes it the 783rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 669 places above the chart.
- Hafsa148
- Hafsah29
About 1 girl in 9,081 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 10,860 for Hafsa itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lamya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Hafsa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lamya climbed just as high around 2007, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lamya's path sketches the road Hafsa is walking now.
Hafsa is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Hafsa is headed
Hafsa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Hafsa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hafsa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it sounds — most English speakers read it correctly without being told.
- An unbroken record from the seventh century to now, which is longer than almost any name in current American use.
- Recognized on sight across Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Bosnian and Hausa-speaking communities, with the spelling barely changing.
- Two syllables and no silent letters, so it sits easily beside surnames of any length.
- The Arabic ḥ has no English equivalent, so outside your own community the name will usually be said with a plain h. Most families accept that as a fair trade; some find it grates.
- Hafsa, Hafsah and Hafza all circulate, and Hafiza is a separate name entirely. Expect occasional mix-ups on forms and in emails.
- It is uncommon enough in the US that she will likely be the only one in her school — good for never being one of three, less good for the small effort of spelling it out.
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What they receive
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Hafsa
Feminine · #1452 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hafsas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Hafsa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Hafsa?
- Hafsa is the most-used spelling in US records — 148 of the 177 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Hafsah.
- How popular is the name Hafsa in 2025?
- Hafsa ranks #1452 among US girl names in 2025, with 148 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hafsa?
- About 1 in every 10,860 US girls born in 2025 was named Hafsa — 148 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hafsa with classmates?
- Hafsa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hafsa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lauryn#1452 · Vayda#1452 · Kaylie#1452 · Pia#1452 · Hartley#1452 · Rochel#1458 · Elianny#1458 · Harlem#1458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hafsa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hafsa and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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