Ja'far
Ja'far, meaning in Arabic "small stream/rivulet/creek", is a masculine Arabic given name, especially common among Shia Muslims.
It may also be transliterated Jafar, Jaffar, Jafer, Jaffer, Jafur or, in Egyptian Arabic pronunciation, Gafar.
The Turkish spelling of the name is Cafer, the Azerbaijani Cəfər, the Bosniak Džafer and the Albanian Xhafer.
Historical persons
- Ja'far al-Sadiq, descendant of Ali, prominent Islamic Fiqh scholar and sixth Imam for Shia Muslims.
- Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, companion of Muhammad, older brother of Ali
- Jafar ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, son of Imam Ali and Umm ul-Banin and martyred on Ashura with his brothers Abbas, Abdullah and Uthman
- Ja'far ibn Yahya, one of the Barmakids, vizier of Caliph Harun al-Rashid
- Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, Persian scholar
- Mir Jafar Dasni, Yezidi leader who rebelled against Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim
- Ja'far ibn Fallah, Kutama Berber general of the Fatimids
- Ja'far ibn al-Furat, Ikhshidid and Fatimid vizier
- Jafar ibn Ali al-Hadi, son of the tenth Imam, Ali al-Hadi, a founder of the Ja’fariyyas
- Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Hasani, first Sharif of Mecca
- Ja'far Al-Mutawakkil the tenth Abbasid Caliph ruled from 10 August 847 to 10 December 861 CE.
- Ja'far Al-Mufawwid an Abbasid Prince and Heir apparent of the Abbasid Caliphate from 875 to 30 April 892.
- Ja'far ibn Sa'id, Sharif of Mecca
- Jafar Khan, King of Persia
Modern persons
Given name
Jafar- Mir Jafar, served as the commander of Bengali forces under Siraj ud-Daulah, the Nawab of Bengal, later the first dependent Nawab of Bengal under East Indian Company.
- Jafar Ahmadi, Iranian kickboxer
- Jafar Alam, Bangladeshi politician and Member of Parliament
- Jafar Alizadeh, Iranian wrestler
- Jafar Arias, Curaçaoan footballer
- Jafar al-Askari, prime minister of Iraq
- Jafar Bazri,, Iranian footballer
- Jafar Bolhari, Iranian psychiatrist
- Jafar Ebrahimi, Iranian poem
- Jafar al-Hakim, Shiite Ayatollah in Najaf, Iraq
- Mufti Jafar Hussain, Pakistani Shia mujtahid and political leader
- Jafar Iqbal, Bangladeshi footballer
- Jafar Irismetov, Uzbekistan footballer and coach
- Jafar Jabbarli, Azerbaijani playwright, poet, director and screenwriter
- Jafar Dhia Jafar, Iraqi nuclear physicist
- Jafar Khan Jamali, Indian politician, tribal chief and an All-India Muslim League veteran from Balochistan
- Jafar Kazemi, Iranian political prisoner sentenced to death and hanged for co-operation with the Iranian opposition group PMOI
- Jafar Khan, shah of Persia
- Jafar Mokhtarifar, Iranian footballer
- Jafar Mondal, Indian footballer
- Jafar Panahi, Iranian filmmaker
- Jafar Salmasi, Iranian weightlifter
- Jafar Shafaghat, Iranian General officer in the Iranian Pahlavi Army
- Jafar Shahidi, scholar of Persian language and literature and historian of Islam
- Jafar Sharif-Emami, Prime minister of Iran
- Jafar Shojouni, Iranian Shia cleric and politician who served a member of the Parliament of Iran
- Jafar Tabrizi, 15th century master in calligraphy as well as a poet and scribe
- Jafar Umar Thalib, Indonesian ulama and Islamic political figure
- Jafar Zafarani, Iranian mathematician
- Ja'far Kashfi, Persian philosopher of 19th century
- Ja'far Pishevari, Iranian politician
- Ja'afar Touqan, Palestinian-Jordanian architect
- Jaffar Idukki, Indian impressionist and actor in Malayalam film
- Jaffer Zaidi, Pakistani musician and lead vocalist of the Pakistani band Kaavish
- Jaffer Rahimtoola, Indian barrister
- Cafer Bater, Turkish politician
- Cafer Tayyar Eğilmez, Turkish politician
- Džafer Kulenović, Yugoslav politician who led the Yugoslav Muslim Organization in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and was briefly government minister
- Gaafar Nimeiry, President of Sudan
- Xhafer Bej Ypi, Albanian politician
- Xhafer Deva, Kosovo Albanian politician
- Xhafer Spahiu, Albanian politician
Middle name
- Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan, Indian sitar player
- C. K. Jaffer Sharief or Challakere Kareem Jaffer Sharief, Indian politician
- Mir Jafar Baghirov, Azerbaijani communist leader under the Soviet rule
- Akif Jafar Hajiyev, Azerbaijani mathematician
- Seyyed Jafar Kashfi, Iranian calligrapher
- Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Iranian scholar of Islamic studies and a former diplomat
- Mohammad Jafar Mahjoub, Iranian scholar of Persian literature, essayist, translator and teacher
- Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, Iranian cleric and judge and the current Attorney-General of Iran
- Mohammad Jafar Moradi, Iranian long distance runner
- Sayed Jafar Naderi, ethnic Hazara-Ismaili who controlled Baghlan Province of Afghanistan during the early 1990s
- Mustafa Jaffer Sabodo, Tanzanian economist, consultant and businessman
- Mohammad Jafar Yahaghi, Persian writer, literary critic, editor and translator
Surname or patronymic
- Adnan Jafar, Iraqi footballer
- Badr Jafar, Emirati business executive
- Jafar Dhia Jafar, Iraqi nuclear physicist
- Majid Jafar, UAE businessman
- Mustapha Ben Jafar, Tunisian politician and doctor
- Syed Jafar, Indian-American electrical engineer and computer scientist
- Onn Jaafar, Malay politician and a Menteri Besar of Johor in Malaysia, then Malaya
- Raja Jaafar Raja Muda of Perak Darul Ridzuan
- Said Mohamed Jaffar, president of the State of Comoros
- Armaan Jaffer, Indian cricketer
- Jameel Jaffer, Canadian human rights and civil liberties attorney
- Melissa Jaffer, Australian actress
- Mobina Jaffer, Canadian Senator
- Mulla Asgarali Jaffer, leader of the Khoja Shia Athnā‘ashariyyah Community
- Murtz Jaffer, Canadian celebrity journalist
- Rahim Jaffer, Canadian politician
- Sadaf Jaffer, American politician and scholar
- Sayed Mohammed Jaffer, Bahraini footballer
- Wasim Jaffer, Indian cricketer
- Vanja Džaferović, Croat-Bosnian footballer
- Ahmed Gaafar, Egyptian footballer
- Farouk Gaafar, Egyptian footballer
- Mostafa Gaafar, Egyptian footballer
Fictional characters
- Jaffar, a character in The Thief of Bagdad
- *Jafar, the main antagonist in the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin, its first sequel, The Return of Jafar, and its 2019 live-action remake
- **Jafar, one of the primary antagonists in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, based on the Aladdin character
- **Ja'far, the main protagonist in the musical Twisted, based on the Aladdin character
- *Jaffar, a character in Prince of Persia, inspired by the character in The Thief of Bagdad
- Jaffar, a character in the video game Fire Emblem
- Ja'far, a character in the manga