Safa
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- SAH-fa
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #125 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #1,004 for girls
Safa is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “purity, clarity”. In 2025 it ranked 125th for girls in the UK (438 babies) and 1,004th for girls in the US (249 babies).
What does Safa mean?
Arabic
“purity, clarity”
Arabic for purity; Safa is also one of the two hills in Mecca between which pilgrims walk during Hajj and Umrah.
Is Safa a girl's or a boy's name?
Safa is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 438 girls in the UK and 249 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Safa in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 125th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 438 about 1 in 640 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 44% in five years
- Same name in a class
- 2.2% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 438 girls in the UK were named Safa, making it the 125th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 227th.
It has been given to more girls each year for the last 4 years. 2025 had the most girls named Safa of any year since the records began in 1996.
Half of all the girls named Safa in the UK since 1996 were born between 2008 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 466 girls in the UK were given Safa or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #138.
Among girls in 2025, it was 111th in England and Wales and 272nd in Scotland.
Safa in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 438 | #125 |
| 2024 | 369 | #149 |
| 2023 | 280 | #196 |
| 2022 | 211 | #248 |
| 2021 | 192 | #273 |
| 2020 | 237 | #227 |
| 2019 | 263 | #207 |
| 2018 | 253 | #221 |
| 2017 | 272 | #212 |
| 2016 | 219 | #262 |
| 2015 | 227 | #246 |
| 2014 | 235 | #238 |
| 2013 | 244 | #230 |
| 2012 | 251 | #219 |
| 2011 | 249 | #226 |
| 2010 | 229 | #245 |
| 2009 | 236 | #234 |
| 2008 | 256 | #225 |
| 2007 | 262 | #223 |
| 2006 | 235 | #229 |
| 2005 | 170 | #289 |
| 2004 | 141 | #322 |
| 2003 | 136 | #316 |
| 2002 | 127 | #316 |
| 2001 | 98 | #378 |
| 2000 | 64 | #503 |
| 1999 | 66 | #495 |
| 1998 | 29 | #854 |
| 1997 | 39 | #707 |
| 1996 | 23 | #958 |
How popular is Safa in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 1,004th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 249 about 1 in 6,500 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 66% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 249 girls in the US were named Safa, making it the 1,004th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,721st. It first appears in the records in 1978.
It has been given to more girls each year for the last 5 years. 2025 had the most girls named Safa of any year since it first appeared, in 1978.
Half of all the girls named Safa in the US since 1880 were born between 2006 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 254 girls in the US were given Safa or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #924, up from #1,004 for this spelling alone.
- Safa 249
- Safah 5
Safa in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 249 | #1,004 |
| 2024 | 213 | #1,135 |
| 2023 | 156 | #1,430 |
| 2022 | 128 | #1,648 |
| 2021 | 121 | #1,710 |
| 2020 | 117 | #1,721 |
| 2019 | 133 | #1,598 |
| 2018 | 122 | #1,692 |
| 2017 | 129 | #1,665 |
| 2016 | 102 | #1,956 |
| 2015 | 104 | #1,937 |
| 2014 | 92 | #2,096 |
| 2013 | 85 | #2,187 |
| 2012 | 98 | #1,983 |
| 2011 | 74 | #2,453 |
| 2010 | 67 | #2,670 |
| 2009 | 75 | #2,509 |
| 2008 | 65 | #2,773 |
| 2007 | 68 | #2,684 |
| 2006 | 61 | #2,850 |
| 2005 | 66 | #2,576 |
| 2004 | 58 | #2,777 |
| 2003 | 61 | #2,607 |
| 2002 | 79 | #2,123 |
| 2001 | 46 | #3,042 |
| 2000 | 48 | #2,936 |
| 1999 | 31 | #3,800 |
| 1998 | 33 | #3,570 |
| 1997 | 28 | #3,894 |
| 1996 | 26 | #4,054 |
| 1995 | 29 | #3,665 |
| 1994 | 24 | #4,233 |
| 1993 | 24 | #4,252 |
| 1992 | 13 | #6,645 |
| 1991 | 18 | #5,175 |
| 1990 | 17 | #5,281 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,031 |
| 1988 | 12 | #6,272 |
| 1987 | 12 | #5,918 |
| 1986 | 10 | #6,609 |
| 1985 | 6 | #9,304 |
| 1984 | 9 | #6,808 |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 7 | #8,222 |
| 1981 | 6 | #9,108 |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 0 | – |
| 1978 | 8 | #6,946 |
Names like Safa
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Zainab, Hafsa, Aaliyah, Ayah, Amira, Hiba, Khadija, Summer, Ayra, Rahma, Huda, Sumayyah
Other spellings of Safa
Names related to Safa
More Arabic names
Muhammad, Layla, Mohammed, Lyla, Mohammad, Zara, Amir, Fatima, Ali, Yahya, Zayn, Aisha, Omar, Zahra, Hamza, Kairo
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Safa: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/safa, updated 20 October 2026.