Shariff
Masculine · “noble”
Shariff is the Arabic Sharif, noble, written with a doubled f. It was a title before it was a name, and one man who held it launched the uprising that T.E. Lawrence made famous.
How old is the name Shariff?
Shariff first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Shariff alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 500 people named Shariff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shariff most popular?
Shariff peaked in 1983, reaching #1822 nationally. See the whole 1983 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From sharīf to Shariff
The story of Shariff
Sharif was the title of the descendants of the Prophet who governed Mecca, and in the First World War the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, raised the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, the campaign in which T.E. Lawrence rode with his sons. As a given name Sharif is common across the Arabic-speaking and Muslim world. The English word sheriff sounds almost the same and has nothing to do with it: sheriff is the shire's reeve, an Old English officer.
Meaning
noble, honorable
From Arabic sharīf, noble or honorable, used as a title for descendants of the Prophet Muhammad and as a given name.
How the name formed
- sharīf
- Sharif
- Shariff
Related forms: Sharif · Sharif · Şerif · Sharifa
Pronouncing Shariff
shuh-REEF
Stress on the second syllable, as in Arabic.
Nicknames for Shariff
Limited
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
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 198330 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1822reached in 1983
- Change vs 2013
- +40.0%7 in 2015, from 5
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.
Shariff in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sharif in Arabic — same name
- Sharif in Urdu — same name
- Şerif in Turkish — same name
- Sharifa in Arabic — related form
Shariffs among us
people named Shariff are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Shariff sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Its meaning, noble, is clear and admired.
- It is recognized across many languages.
- It is short and easy to say.
- Some will hear sheriff and make the joke.
- People will write Sharif with one f.
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Shariff
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Shariffs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Shariff are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shariff in 2025?
- Shariff is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Shariff with classmates?
- Shariff will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Steven#271 · Stephen#383 · Samuel#18 · Scott#534 · Sean#489 · Shawn#681 · Stanley#863 · Steve#1609
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shariff? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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