Given name & surname
Ashraf
“a distinguished man”
Ashraf is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “a distinguished man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “a distinguished man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic أَشْرَف; its root is Arabic ش ر ف.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1969. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ashraf through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 952
- 952 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1988
- 35 babies
- 2025
- 29
- #3,763 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +18%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 29 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,763 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 17.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 35 in 1988. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,129 as a first name in 2020; 3,386 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.
Ashraf’s family of names
Ashraf has a related form in Asheraf. Ashraf has a related form in Asheraph. Ashraf has a related form in Ashraph.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Ashraf
- Ashraf GhaniPresident of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021 (17 11 2006born 1949
- Ashraf PahlaviIranian royal (1919–2016)
- Ashraf HotakHotak emir of Afghanistan (died 1730)1700–1730
- Ashraf MarwanEgyptian businessman1944–2007
- Ashraf Ali ThanwiIndian Muslim scholar (1863–1943)
- Ashraf Dehghaniamongst the most well known Iranian female Communist revolutionary and member of the Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillasborn 1948
- Ashraf BarhomIsraeli Arab actorborn 1979
- Ashraf Nu'manPalestinian footballerborn 1986
- Achref AbadaAlgerian footballer (born 1999)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ashraf, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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