Given name & surname
Arif
“a learned man”
Arif is a variant of Aarif. One Arabic interpretation is “a learned man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Arif is a variant of Aarif. One Arabic interpretation is “a learned man.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Arif is a variant of Aarif. An origin associated with Aarif is Arabic.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Ottoman Turkish عارف (arif), from Arabic عَارِف (“knowing”); its root is Arabic ع ر ف.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1968. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Arif through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 714
- 714 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 21 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #7,717 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +15%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 7,717 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 15.1% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 21 in 2007. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,389 as a first name in 2020; 2,608 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Arif’s family of names
In Northern Kurdish usage, Arif has a related form in 'Arif. Arif has a related form in Aarif. In Indonesian usage, Arif has a related form in ARIP.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Arif has relatives in 5 languages.
4 related names in 5 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Arif
- Arif Alvi13th President of Pakistan from 2018 to 2024born 1949
- Arif ErdemTurkish association football player (born 1972)
- Arif MalikovSoviet and Azerbaijani composer (1933-2019)
- Arif MardinTurkish-American record producer (1932–2006)
- Defri JuliantIndonesian singer and actorborn 2002
- Arif AimanMalaysian footballerborn 2002
- Arif BabayevAzerbaijani singer (1938–2025)
- Aref al-ArefPalestinian journalist, historian and politician (1891-1973)1892–1973
- ArefIranian singer and former actor1940–2026
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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