Mostafa
Mustafa is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in Muslim-majority countries.
- Persian
- Bengali
- Arabic
Meaning & Origin of Mostafa
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Mustafa is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in Muslim-majority countries.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Persian
- Bengali
- Arabic
The Story of Mostafa
Mostafa first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1978, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2017: 35 births, good for #3,248 nationwide. About 29% of every Mostafa on record arrived during the 2010s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Mostafa ranks #6,434 for baby boys with 13 births, falling sharply (-41%). All told, over 765 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Mostafa
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Mostafa. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Mostafa
Phonetically similar names — useful when Mostafa is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Mostafa
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About the name Mostafa
Mostafa is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1978 and has accumulated 765 births in the dataset. Mostafa's peak popularity came in 2017 when it ranked #2,710. Use the chart and map above to compare Mostafa's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2017 →
- Names of the 2010s →
- Names starting with "M" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.