Mid 18th century; earliest use found in Jonas Hanway (bap. 1712, d. 1786), merchant and philanthropist. From Persian 'ašrafī from Arabic 'ašrafī from 'ašraf most noble, elative of šarīf noble, honourable, exalted + -ī, originally with reference to the honorific title al-'Ašraf ‘the Most Noble’ taken by several 15th-cent. Mameluke rulers of Egypt, among them Abu'l-Naṣr Barsbāy, sultan of Egypt 1422–38, who introduced the coin 1426.