Aarif
Torn between Aarif and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
knowing or learned; an Arabic spelling related to Arif and borne in Hong Kong by actor Aarif Rahman
The story
Aarif is an Arabic name related to Arif. The Hong Kong actor known as Aarif Lee or Aarif Rahman has described its meaning as "knowledgeable." He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer for Echoes of the Rainbow. In Hong Kong, many people use an English name socially alongside a Chinese name.
How popular is Aarif around the world?
Aarif does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick. Aarif is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
United States
under 5 a year
Aarif does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Aarif is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Aarif deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Aarif truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Aarif fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Aarif fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Aarif to your family’s tree →