Sadaf
Feminine · “Seashell”
Sadaf is a seashell — specifically the shell that holds a pearl, which is why Persian and Urdu poetry uses the word as an image of something ordinary containing something precious. It is a common name across Iran and Pakistan.
How old is the name Sadaf?
Sadaf first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Sadaf alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 700 people named Sadaf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sadaf most popular?
Sadaf peaked in 1987, reaching #3983 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 1,571 places below that high. See the whole 1987 chart.
Where it comes from
From ṣadaf to Sadaf
The story of Sadaf
The word traveled with Arabic into Persian and then, with Persian, into Urdu and across South Asia. It is an ordinary women's name in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the poetic image of the shell and the pearl gives it a warmth the literal meaning does not fully explain. American records show Sadaf from the 1970s with Iranian and Pakistani immigration, and its peak in 1987 sits with the Iranian arrivals after 1979 and the growing South Asian community together. It has stayed at a low steady level since.
Meaning
Seashell; mother-of-pearl
From Arabic ṣadaf, a shell or mother-of-pearl, borrowed into Persian and Urdu with the same sense. The reading is settled. In Persian poetry the sadaf holding a pearl is a standard figure, and the word carries that association wherever the name is used.
How the name formed
- ṣadaf
- Sadaf
Related forms: صدف · صدف · صدف · Sadef
Pronouncing Sadaf
sah-DAF
Two syllables, stress on the second. The Arabic ṣ is emphatic, made with the tongue drawn back, which English replaces with a plain s. English speakers often say SAD-uff, moving the stress forward.
Nicknames for Sadaf
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
- 1976
- Most girls named
- 202427 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3983reached in 1987
- Change vs 2024
- −18.5%22 in 2025, from 27
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.
Sadaf in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- صدف in Arabic — transliteration
- صدف in Persian — same name
- صدف in Urdu — same name
- Sadef in Turkish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Virginia, Texas.
Sadafs among us
people named Sadaf are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Sadaf
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 Karlin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Sadaf's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Karlin climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Karlin's path sketches the road Sadaf is walking now.
Sadaf 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
Sadaf beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sadaf in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, concrete and unusually poetic.
- Five letters and two syllables travel easily.
- Sadie is available as an English-facing form.
- The stress is regularly moved forward by English speakers.
- It is unfamiliar outside Iranian and South Asian communities.
- The first syllable resembles the English word sad.
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What they receive
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Sadaf
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sadafs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Sadaf are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sadaf in 2025?
- Sadaf ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sadaf?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Sadaf — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sadaf with classmates?
- Sadaf will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sadaf
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sadaf? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sadaf and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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