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Aref

#10,790 in 2025Boys' name

Form of Arif

Aref has been given to 25 babies in the U.S. since 2004. In 2025 it ranked #10,790 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2004, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Aref, 2025

1 in 553,000

Aref over time, 1880–2025

Boys
0246818801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Aref: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Arif

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Aref means

Aref is a form of Arif.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Aref → Arif. The family’s meaning is “knowing”, recorded in Albanian with the source elements ʕārif.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Arif.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 25 boys were recorded with the name Aref between 2004 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2004; its best national rank was #8,186 in 2004.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Aref?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 285,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#10,790
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Aref sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Aref. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Arefs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Aref was born before 2006 — so the typical Aref is around 19 today.

Median birth year
2006
About 19 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
52.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
100.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
25
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 52.0% of all recorded uses (13).

Is Aref rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+264
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
75.0%
Peak was 2004 (8)
Years since peak
21
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Very steady
0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#8,186
2004

Spellings of Aref

Aref is not the most common spelling — Fred is, with 20.2% against Aref's <0.01%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Aref around the world

Where Aref ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2020–2020
    #4,608
    in 2020
  • France
    1967–1973
    #1,866
    in 1973

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Aref by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#10,790
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#8,186
2004
Peak year
2004
8 that year
First recorded
2004
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
25
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Aref

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ArezAreezAreenAredAregAreliAreusArelioArelArenzoArecArekAreeAreonAreyonAreebAreanAreionArendArenZerefAresenioAres

Sibling names for Aref

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Aref

Top names of 2004, Aref's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2004Boys' names starting with APersian Boy NamesPersian Names