Fun Facts About the Name Zafar
- 146 babies named Zafar: U.S. records list 146 babies given the name Zafar from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Zafar Mean?
Zafar is an Arabic masculine name meaning "victory" or "triumph." It comes from the Arabic noun ẓafar (ظَفَر), which denotes victory, success, or prevailing over an opponent. The same root letters, ظ-ف-ر (ẓ - f - r), also form a verb meaning to overcome or gain the upper hand. The name is not the Arabic word ẓufr (ظُفْر), "fingernail," which has different vowels. The emphatic consonant ظ is written as ẓ in careful transliteration and simply as z in most English spellings. Zafar is Arabic in origin; its use in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish belongs to later borrowing and adaptation, not to separate origins.
Zafar Name History & Origins
Zafar began as an Arabic personal name and word for victory. In Arabic-speaking societies it was used as a single name and as an element in compound names; Zafarullah, for example, joins Zafar with Allāh and means "victory of God" or "God's victory." As Arabic and Persian cultural influence spread, the name was adopted in Iran, Afghanistan, and South Asia. In Persian and Urdu, the Arabic letter ظ is pronounced as a z sound, and the name is written ظفر; in Turkish, the related form Zafer is both the ordinary word for victory and a male given name.
In medieval India, Zafar appears among Muslim military and political figures. Zafar Khan, a governor in the Delhi Sultanate, became the founder of the Gujarat Sultanate and ruled as Muzaffar Shah I in the early 15th century. Such uses show the name in noble and administrative circles, but they are examples of its use rather than its origin. In South Asia the best-known bearer is Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775 - 1862), the last Mughal emperor, who used Zafar as his poetic pen name. His fame is a later literary and imperial association, distinct from the name's earlier Arabic history.
How Popular is the Name Zafar?
Zafar has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2017. Its best rank was #6,327 in 2017.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,661 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #14,188 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2023 | #8,232 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #8,958 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2021 | #9,682 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #8,868 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2018 | #9,647 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #6,327 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2016 | #14,150 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #6,621 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2013 | #10,706 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #12,237 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #12,250 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #12,190 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #14,485 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #13,986 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2004 | #13,194 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #9,895 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #7,961 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #10,155 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Zafar Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have aspiration and inspiration, hope and guidance. Since you are intuitive and perceptive and you understand human nature. You have the power to achieve. Diplomacy and discretion make you a good mediator. You are inspired, introspective, and have a good understanding of the human heart. You can have the ability to commercialize your artistic talents successfully. You are often a mystery to others and to yourself. You are always reaching for something higher, without exactly knowing what that "higher" is. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Zafar's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Zafar's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.