Safiya
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- sa-FEE-ya
- Origin
- Arabic
- UK rank, 2025
- #487 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #1,326 for girls
Safiya is a girls' name of Arabic origin, meaning “pure, chosen”. In 2025 it ranked 487th for girls in the UK (91 babies) and 1,326th for girls in the US (168 babies).
What does Safiya mean?
Arabic: spelling of Safiyya
“pure, chosen”
A spelling of Safiyya; Safiyya bint Abd al-Muttalib was the Prophet Muhammad's aunt.
Is Safiya a girl's or a boy's name?
Safiya is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 91 girls in the UK and 168 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Safiya in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 487th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 91 about 1 in 3,100 girls
- Five-year trend
- Steady up 22% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 91 girls in the UK were named Safiya, making it the 487th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 615th. Its busiest year was 2012, with 99 girls.
2025 had more girls named Safiya than any year since 2012.
Half of all the girls named Safiya in the UK since 1996 were born between 2007 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 274 girls in the UK were given Safiya or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #213, up from #487 for this spelling alone.
Among girls in 2025, it was 455th in England and Wales and 780th in Scotland.
Safiya in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 91 | #487 |
| 2024 | 84 | #520 |
| 2023 | 88 | #496 |
| 2022 | 75 | #566 |
| 2021 | 61 | #682 |
| 2020 | 68 | #615 |
| 2019 | 62 | #684 |
| 2018 | 85 | #547 |
| 2017 | 82 | #577 |
| 2016 | 73 | #631 |
| 2015 | 77 | #607 |
| 2014 | 81 | #573 |
| 2013 | 81 | #564 |
| 2012 | 99 | #490 |
| 2011 | 96 | #489 |
| 2010 | 88 | #513 |
| 2009 | 96 | #472 |
| 2008 | 77 | #545 |
| 2007 | 73 | #558 |
| 2006 | 82 | #507 |
| 2005 | 60 | #607 |
| 2004 | 55 | #614 |
| 2003 | 49 | #647 |
| 2002 | 40 | #708 |
| 2001 | 41 | #679 |
| 2000 | 43 | #654 |
| 1999 | 35 | #738 |
| 1998 | 28 | #866 |
| 1997 | 21 | #1,053 |
| 1996 | 21 | #1,024 |
How popular is Safiya in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 1,326th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 168 about 1 in 9,600 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 66% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 168 girls in the US were named Safiya, making it the 1,326th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,872nd. It first appears in the records in 1973.
It has been given to more girls each year for the last 3 years. 2025 had the most girls named Safiya of any year since it first appeared, in 1973.
Half of all the girls named Safiya in the US since 1880 were born between 2002 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 262 girls in the US were given Safiya or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #904, up from #1,326 for this spelling alone.
Safiya in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 168 | #1,326 |
| 2024 | 162 | #1,390 |
| 2023 | 157 | #1,421 |
| 2022 | 147 | #1,486 |
| 2021 | 152 | #1,419 |
| 2020 | 103 | #1,872 |
| 2019 | 105 | #1,898 |
| 2018 | 85 | #2,190 |
| 2017 | 94 | #2,074 |
| 2016 | 88 | #2,188 |
| 2015 | 68 | #2,619 |
| 2014 | 74 | #2,442 |
| 2013 | 72 | #2,484 |
| 2012 | 63 | #2,769 |
| 2011 | 73 | #2,482 |
| 2010 | 74 | #2,493 |
| 2009 | 71 | #2,591 |
| 2008 | 66 | #2,754 |
| 2007 | 68 | #2,684 |
| 2006 | 55 | #3,053 |
| 2005 | 57 | #2,861 |
| 2004 | 50 | #3,067 |
| 2003 | 41 | #3,468 |
| 2002 | 35 | #3,726 |
| 2001 | 37 | #3,545 |
| 2000 | 37 | #3,522 |
| 1999 | 21 | #5,033 |
| 1998 | 34 | #3,494 |
| 1997 | 25 | #4,236 |
| 1996 | 20 | #4,878 |
| 1995 | 26 | #3,964 |
| 1994 | 22 | #4,516 |
| 1993 | 22 | #4,518 |
| 1992 | 27 | #3,860 |
| 1991 | 22 | #4,491 |
| 1990 | 23 | #4,225 |
| 1989 | 36 | #2,980 |
| 1988 | 27 | #3,478 |
| 1987 | 26 | #3,421 |
| 1986 | 28 | #3,201 |
| 1985 | 22 | #3,729 |
| 1984 | 26 | #3,232 |
| 1983 | 18 | #4,108 |
| 1982 | 22 | #3,646 |
| 1981 | 38 | #2,488 |
| 1980 | 21 | #3,718 |
| 1979 | 21 | #3,667 |
| 1978 | 29 | #2,801 |
| 1977 | 30 | #2,715 |
| 1976 | 14 | #4,361 |
| 1975 | 14 | #4,368 |
| 1974 | 10 | #5,359 |
| 1973 | 5 | #8,421 |
Names like Safiya
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Safa, Aaliyah, Zainab, Sumayyah, Hafsa, Hiba, Safaa, Ruqayyah, Rahma, Abeeha, Khadija, Amira
Other spellings of Safiya
Names related to Safiya
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, “Safiya: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/safiya, updated 20 October 2026.