Mustafa

مُصْطَفَى

Boy Arabic /MOOS-tah-fah/ #883 in 2023

Mustafa is a boy name of Arabic origin.

Meaning of Mustafa

"The chosen one, the selected." One of the epithets of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — Al-Muṣṭafā, "the Chosen One of God."

Arabic root: ṣ-f-w — (ص-ف-و, to choose, select)

Regional variants

Strongly associated with the Prophet ﷺ, so families often pair it with a second given name. "Mustafa" is the standard US/Turkish spelling; "Mostafa" is Egyptian.

Popularity of Mustafa

Popularity, 1963–2023

263 births in 2023

1963 2023

6,727 U.S. births recorded from 1963–2023.

Peak year

2022

275 babies

First recorded

1963

60 years of history

Recent trend

Steady

Last 5 yrs vs. prior 5

Variants & nicknames

MoustafaMostafaMustapha

Famous people named Mustafa

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (founder of modern Turkey)
Mustafa the Poet (Canadian rapper)

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About this page

Popularity counts come from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national dataset. Meaning and cultural context drawn from classical sources: Lisan al-Arab, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Qur'an and Sunnah. If you spot an error, please let us know.