Arif is a distinctive choice, ranked #1322 in 2024. Your child is likely to be the only Arif in their class.
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UK Rank 2024
#1322
About the Name Arif
Arif is climbing rapidly up the charts, having climbed 754 places in just five years. Its best recorded rank was #568 in 2000 — and current momentum suggests it could challenge that mark again. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Arif is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school — standing out on every register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Arif
Unlikely. With around 20 UK babies named Arif per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Arif in his class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Arif is currently rising in popularity in the UK, up 754 places over the last five years to #1322 in 2024. If this trend continues, it will become more common in classrooms over the next decade.
Arif is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Arif include: Rubina Arif — Rubina Arif is a Pakistani actress and producer.; Arif Khan (skier) — Arif Mohammad Khan is an Indian alpine skier, who competes in the slalom.; Ahmed Arif — Ahmed Arif was a Turkish-Kurdish poet..
Arif does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Arifs in the wild.
20
UK babies named Arif (2024)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 754 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Arif
Likely around 1 other Arif in the class
UK Popularity (1996–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Arif
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Arif Mohammad Khan is an Indian alpine skier, who competes in the slalom. In 2011, he won two gold medals: in the slalom and giant slalom Alpine skiing at the South Asian Winter Games.
Taslim Arif Abbasi was a Pakistani cricketer who played in six Test matches and 2 One Day Internationals (ODIs) in 1980. His score of 210* for Pakistan against Australia stood for more than 20 years as the highest score made by a wicket-keeper in Test cricket, until broken by Zimbabwean Andy Flower in 2000.
Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi is a Pakistani politician and former dentist who served as the 13th president of Pakistan from September 2018 to March 2024. He was a member of the National Assembly from 2013 until being elected president in 2018.
Arif Mohammad Khan is an Indian politician who previously served as the 42nd Governor of Bihar from 2025 to 2026. He belongs from the state of Uttar Pradesh and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and served as Governor of Kerala from 2019 to 2025, Governor of Bihar from 2025 to 2026, and as a Union minister, holding several portfolios like civil aviation.
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records.
Abdul Rahman Mohammed ʿArif al-Jumayli, better known as Abdul Rahman Arif, was an Iraqi military officer and politician who served as the third president of Iraq from 16 April 1966 to 17 July 1968. He was the older brother of the second president of Iraq, Abdul Salam Arif, whom he succeeded after his brother died in an airplane crash in 1966.