Mustafa

What Mustafa means

Means “the chosen one”

From Arabic مُصْطَفَى (muṣṭafā, “the chosen one”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Mustafa” (revision 93608962), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Mustafa?

US: Rising: up from #907 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #231 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 339 boys got the name (#760 that year). First in the US records in 1963.

How common

• About 1 in 5,039 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 913 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MN (0.57 per 1,000 boys), NY (0.5 per 1,000 boys), NJ (0.48 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Mustafa is #760 in the US and #170 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Mustafa were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Mustafo40 US
• Mustapha16 US · 7 E&W
• Mostafa16 US · 6 E&W
• Moustafa5 US
• Mustafah0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Mustafa

Boys

• Yousef#744Editor’s note Up from #788 in 2015 to #744 in 2025 in the US
• Muhammad#239“praised, commendable, laudable”^*
• Ali#306“high, exalted”^*
• Yusuf#449Same root as Joseph, meaning “(God) shall add”^*
• Amir#105“commander, prince”^*
• Ibrahim#351Editor’s note Up from #436 in 2015 to #351 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

• Maryam#351Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #52 vs #351 in 2025
• Amira#132“princess”^*
• Zahra#538Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1973, with 8 babies
• Alia#587Feminine form of Ali, meaning “high, exalted”^*
• Noor#659“light”^*
• Amirah#490Variant of Amira, meaning “princess”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Arabic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Mustafa’s. Rank is US 2025.