1000 Most Common Last Names in Egypt

Muslim: variant of Muhammad. See also Mohammed.

Muslim: variant spelling of Ahmad.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from the Arabic personal name ?Ali ‘high’, ‘lofty’, ‘sublime’. Al-?Ali ‘the All-High’ is an attribute of Allah. Abdul-?Ali means ‘servant of the All-High’. ?Ali ibn Abi ?Talib (c. 600–661), the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, was the fourth and last of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 656–61) and the first imam of the Shiite Muslims. His assassination led to the appearance of the Shiite sect.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic hassan ‘beautifier’. The poet Hassan bin Sabit was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslim: variant spelling of Hasan. Irish (County Derry): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÓsáin ‘descendant of Ósán’, a personal name formed from a diminutive of os ‘deer’.

Muslim: variant of Mahmood.

Muslim: from the personal name Ibrahim, Arabic form of Abraham. In Islam, Ibrahim is identified as a prophet, the ancestor of all the Semitic peoples, both Hebrew and Arab, and the father of Isma?il (see Ismail) and Is?haq (see Ishak).

Muslim: variant of Mustafa.

German: from a short form of any of a number of personal names beginning with Old High German adal ‘noble’. Compare Edel. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from Adel ‘nobility’. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic adil ‘just’, ‘legally competent (as a witness)’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic sa?d ‘good luck’, ‘good fortune’, ‘success’. Sa?d is often used to form names in combination with other words, for example Sa?d Allah (Sa?dullah) ‘joy of Allah’, an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad. Sa?d ibn Abu Waqqas was one of the ten Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. This name is prevalent in all Muslim countries. Jewish (Sephardic): a derivative of a personal name, either from Hebrew saad ‘support’ or from Arabic sa?d ‘good luck’ (see 1).

Muslim (found almost exclusively among Sunni Muslims): from an Arabic personal name of uncertain etymology. It is thought to be related to Arabic ?amir, which means ‘prosperous’, ‘full of life’, ‘large’, ‘substantial’. The root word ?umr means ‘life’. ?Umar bin al-Kha?t?tab was the second of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 634–44). He was known by the title al-Faruq ‘the distinguisher’, i.e. one who distinguishes between truth and falsehood. He was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The Persian poet ?Umar al-Khayyam (1048–1125), also known in English as Omar Khayyam, is the author of the classic poem, the Rubaiyyat. Catalan: topographic name for someone who lived by a group of elm trees, from the collective form of om ‘elm’.

Muslim: variant spelling of Husain.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic kamal ‘perfection’, ‘integrity’. It is found in compound names such as Kamal ud-Din ‘perfection of religion’. Hindu name found among people from Sind, Pakistan, which goes back to the personal name of an ancestor, derived from Sanskrit kamala ‘lotus’. The personal name is common in India, and has become a family name in the U.S. among South Indians.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic salim or salim ‘safe’, ‘secure’, ‘perfect’, ‘complete’. Salim ibn ?Umayr was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. French (Alsace): habitational name from a place named Salem in Haut-Rhin, named for the holy city of Jerusalem.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?sali?h ‘pious’, ‘righteous’, ‘virtuous’ (see the Qur’an 26: 83). Saleh is the name of a messenger of Allah (see the Qur’an 7:75). This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: from Arabic Rama?dan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, a sacred month of fasting for Muslims. It is sometimes chosen by Muslim parents as a name for children born in this month. In this month the Qur’an, the Holy Book of Islam, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel). This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: from a personal name based on the Arabic adjective sa?id ‘lucky’, ‘fortunate’. Compare Saad.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, Ashraf, meaning ‘most honorable’ or ‘most distinguished’, an elative adjective based on Sharif.

Muslim: see Youssef.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): variant of Sayed or Saeed.

Muslim: variant of Suleiman.

Muslim: variant spelling of Mansur. Egyptian Arabic: habitational name from the city of Mansoura, in in the Nile Delta. It was named for a battle in 1250 in which the Saracens destroyed a Crusader force, capturing King Louis IX of France and holding him and many of his knights to ransom. Mansouras is also found as a Greek family name; there was a large Greek community in Mansoura until comparatively recently.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic kamil ‘perfect’, ‘complete’. Compare Kamal. German, Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from kamel ‘camel’ (Latin camelus, Greek kamelos; cf. Hebrew gamal). This was a common house sign in central Europe in the later Middle Ages, and the surname generally denoted someone who lived in a house bearing this sign. It may also have been a nickname for an ill-tempered or clumsy person, or as a Jewish name it was probably ornamental.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic mu?s?tafa ‘chosen’, from Arabic ?safa ‘to be pure’, ‘to be select’. For Muslims, Al-Mu?s?tafa is an epithet referring to the Prophet Muhammad, while among Arabic-speaking Christians it is applied to St. Paul. Mu?s?tafa is among the most popular personal names in the Islamic world. In Turkey, it is often chosen in honor of Mustafa Kamal Atatürk (1881–1938), founder of modern Turkey. Spanish (of Arabic origin): from the Arabic personal name (see 1 above). Italian: from the Arabic personal name (see 1 above), or from a nickname from Calabrian mustafà ‘strong man with a walrus moustache’.

Muslim: from Arabic ?abduh ‘his servant’, i.e. ‘his (Allah’s) servant’. ?Abduh is one of the epithets of the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic khalil ‘friend’. Khalil-ullah ‘friend of Allah’ is an honorific title given to the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). See the Qur’an 4:125: ‘Allah took Abraham as his friend.’

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, ’Isma?il, name of a Prophet (Biblical Ishmael), son of Ibrahim (Abraham). Ibrahim left his second wife Hajar (Hagar) and their small son Ismail in the wilderness outside Mecca with only a short supply of food and water. Allah took pity on them and caused the well of Zamzam to spurt up in that desolate place, which saved their lives. Later, Ibrahim sought out his son Ismail, and together they built the Ka‘ba in Mecca, towards which all Muslims turn when praying. Arabs believe that Ismail was the founder of the Arab peoples, and for this reason Arabs are sometimes referred to as Ishmaelites. The term Ismaeli is of much more recent origin; it refers to a sect of Shiite Muslims headed by the Aga Khan, who claim descent from the Fatimid dynasty that ruled Egypt and North Africa from 909 to 1171. They take their name from Isma?il al-?Siddiq (699–765), son of the sixth Shiite imam, because they believe that the divine spirit passed to him and not to his brother Musa.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Yusuf, name of a prophet (the biblical Joseph). It is the title of the 12th sura of the Qur’an, where it is told that Zulaykha, wife of Aziz, was attracted by the beauty of Yusuf.

Muslim and Indian (northern states): from an Arabic personal name based on amin ‘trustworthy’, ‘faithful’, ‘honest’. Al-Amin ‘the trustworthy’ is an honorific title of the Prophet Muhammad. The term is used in combination with other words to form compound names: for example, Ru?h-ul-Amin ‘faithful spirit’ is an epithet of the Angel Gabriel mentioned in the Qur’an (26:193). Al-Amin (787–813) was the name of the sixth Abbasid khalif of Baghdad. In India, the name came to be used as a term denoting a government official concerned with investigation of land claims and revenue claims, collection of revenue, and land surveying.

Muslim: variant of Amir. Variant of English Amar.

Turkish: from the Turkish personal name Osman, Turkish form of Arabic ?Uthman. This was the name of the third of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 644–656), one of the ten Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, to whom he gave the good news of entering into paradise. English: variant of Osmond. Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ans ‘god’ + man ‘man’. Dutch: occupational name for an ox driver, from os ‘ox’, ‘bullock’ + man ‘man’. German (Osmann): variant of Ossmann (see Ossman). Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): of uncertain origin; perhaps a variant of Oshman or Hausman.

from a personal name based on ?awad ‘reverence’, ‘kindness’. occupational name from awwad ‘lute maker’ or ‘lute player’. possibly also from ?awwa?d ‘one who compensates or indemnifies’.

Muslim: variant spelling of Ali.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ?Abdullah ‘servant of Allah’. This was the name of the father of the Prophet Muhammad, who died before Muhammad was born. In the Qur’an (19:30), Jesus calls himself ?Abdullah: ‘He (Jesus) said: I am the servant of Allah’. The name is also borne by Christian Arabs.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?eid ‘festivity’. The two principal religious festivals observed by Muslims are ?Eidul Fitr and ?Eidul A?d?ha. ?Eidul Fitr is observed after completion of fasting in Ramadan, ?Eidul A?d?ha is observed as a day of sacrifice commemorating the example of the Prophet Ibrahim, or after completion of the Hajj. Eid is sometimes used as part of the name of a child born on one of these two feast days. Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farmsteads so named, from Old Norse ei{dh} ‘isthmus’ (see Eide). Perhaps an Americanized spelling of German Eidt.

Muslim: see Hamid.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic zaki ‘pure’, ‘chaste’, ‘sinless’. See the Qur’an 19:19: ‘He said: I am only a Messenger of your Lord, to give you (Mariam) a son most pure’.

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Meachair ‘descendant of Meachar’, a personal name meaning ‘kindly’, ‘fine’, ‘majestic’.

Muslim: variant of Abdullah.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic salamah ‘peace’. Salamah ibn ?Amr ibn al-Akwa was one of the ten Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. A related name is Salamah, meaning ‘safety’, ‘security’, or ‘integrity’. This name is found in combinations such as Salamat Allah (Salamatullah) meaning ‘security of Allah’. Jewish (Sephardic): Arabic translation (see 1) of the Hebrew name Shlomoh (see Salomon, Solomon).

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic na?sr ‘victory’. Al-Nasr ‘the Victory’ is the title of the 110th sura of the Qur’an.

Muslim: variant of Sabir. English: variant of Seaberg. Southern French: nickname for a wise or knowledgeable man, from Occitan saber ‘to know’, which could also have the sense of ‘knowledge’.

from Old Italian relationship name reda ‘heir’. from the feminine form of Redo, a reduced form of Redolfo or a short form of Manfredo, Alfredo, Goffredo, Loffredo, or directly from a reduced feminine form of any of these personal names.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic fahmi ‘intelligent’, ‘quick-witted’.

Arabic: variant of Atiyeh. Jewish (Sephardic): from Arabic ?a?tiyyah ‘gift’, ‘present’; most likely a calque of a Jewish personal name with a similar meaning in Hebrew (for example, Nathan, Jonathan, or Nathaniel).

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ra?hman ‘most gracious’, usually forming part of a compound name such as ?Abd ur-Ra?hman ‘servant of the Most Gracious’. ur-Ra?hman (al-Rahman) ‘the Most Gracious’ is an attribute of Allah. ?Abd ur-Ra?hman ibn ?Awf was one of the Companions to whom the Prophet Muhammad gave the good news of entering into paradise. This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world. German (Rahmann): variant of Rademann, topographic name from Low German Rade ‘area cleared of forest’, or a habitational name for someone from any of the places named Rade, from this word. Alternatively, it may be a habitational name for someone from Rahm (see Rahm 1).

Muslim: status name or honorific title from Arabic khalifah ‘successor’, ‘regent’, ‘viceroy’, in English often transliterated as caliph. This was the title adopted after the death of Muhammad in 632 by his successor Abu-Bakr. The caliphs ruled in Bahgdad until 1258, then in Egypt until the Ottoman conquest (1517). The title was then held by the Ottoman sultans in Istanbul until it was abolished by Kamal Atatürk in 1924.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ri?dwan ‘satisfaction’, ‘contentment’ (see Qur’an 48:29). Compare Iranian Reza. German (under Slavic influence): nickname for a captivating person, from Old Slavic radovati ‘to please or delight’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic jamal ‘beauty’, ‘grace’. This name is also found in compounds such as Jamal ud-Din ‘Beauty of Religion’.

Muslim: variant of Musa (Moses).

English: variant spelling of Allum. Muslim: variant spelling of Alam.

Japanese: ‘seashore rice paddy’; found in the island of Shikoku and in the Ryukyu Islands. Several unrelated families bearing this name descend from the Fujiwara, Taira, Kikuchi, Arakida, and other clans.

Muslim: Egyptian form of Faraj.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from the Arabic personal name ?Abbas, literally ‘stern’, ‘austere’. ?Abbas was the name of an uncle (died 652) of the Prophet Muhammad, the ancestor of the Abbasid dynasty (see Abbasi). German: Latinized form of Abt ‘abbot’.

Muslim: variant of Shehadeh.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from a personal name based on Arabic anwar ‘brighter’, an elative adjective derived from nur ‘light’. Anwar (with a long a) is the plural of nur (see Noor) and means ‘rays (of light)’.

Muslim: variant of Mustafa.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name based on na?sir ‘granter of victory’. Compare Nasir, Nassar. German: habitational name for someone from any of the places called Nassen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, and Bavaria. German (Näßer): variant of Naser 2.

From the Biblical personal name Adam, which was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man. It is the generic Hebrew term for ‘man’, probably from Hebrew adama ‘earth’. Compare the classical Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth. It was very popular as a personal name among non-Jews throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, and the surname is found in one form or another in most of the countries of Europe. Jews, however, have never used this personal name, except in recent times under Polish and English influence. Among Scottish and Irish bearers it is sometimes a reduced form of McAdam.

Muslim: probably from a personal name based on Arabic dhi’b ‘wolf’.

Arabic: from a personal name based on Arabic na?s?sar ‘granter of victory’.

Muslim: status name for a Sufi holy man, from Persian and Turkish dervi{s,} ‘dervish’, a member of a Sufi Muslim religious order, from Pahlavi driyosh meaning ‘beggar’, ‘one who goes from door to door’.

Muslim: variant of Noor.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic khalid ‘eternity’, ‘eternal’, ‘remaining’. Khalid ibn-al-Walid (d. 642) was the Muslim military leader who brought about the defeat of the Byzantine Empire and its expulsion from Syria. The Prophet Muhammad called him Sayf-ullah ‘sword of Allah’.

Muslim: from the personal name Ibrahim, Arabic form of Abraham.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from the Arabic personal name ?Abd al-?Aziz ‘servant of the mighty’ or ‘servant of the beloved’. Al-?Aziz ‘the Invincible’ or ‘the Beloved’ is an attribute of Allah. Al-?Aziz (955–996) was the fifth Fatimid khalif of Egypt (975–996), noted among other things for his religious tolerance.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Muslim world): from the Arabic personal name A?hmad ‘the most praised’, elative adjective from ?hamid (see Hamid). This is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad. In the Qur’an (6:16) Jesus foretells the arrival of A?hmad (the Prophet Muhammad) in the words: ‘I have brought good news about a messenger who will come after me, whose name will be A?hmad’.

Muslim and Jewish (Sephardic): from an Arabic personal name based on habib ‘beloved’, ‘friend’, used by both Muslims and Jews. Habibullah ‘beloved of Allah’ is an epithet of Mohammad.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic islam ‘peace’, the name of the religion of Muslims. Islam is mentioned in several places in the Qur’an, for example at 3:19 ‘Religion with Allah is Islam (peace)’ and 5:3 ‘I have chosen for you Islam (peace) as religion’. This name is often found in combinations, e.g. Nur-ul-Islam ‘light of Islam’.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad. This is the traditional English-language spelling. It is also common as a name adopted by Black Americans on conversion to Islam.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Zakaria, name of a Prophet (the Biblical Zacharias), a messenger of Allah, father of the Prophet Yahya (the Biblical John the Baptist).

Muslim (widespread, especially in Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh): from a personal name based on Arabic barakat ‘blessings’, ‘good fortune’, ‘prosperity’, often found in combinations such as Barakat-ullah ‘blessings of Allah’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic sami? ‘hearing’, ‘listening’, or on sami ‘august’. As-Sami? ‘the All-Hearing’ is an attribute of Allah. It is found in combinations such as ?Abd al-Sami? (Abdus-Sami) ‘servant of the All-Hearing’. Indian: variant of Swamy.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ammar ‘virtuous’, ‘pious’.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): occupational name from Arabic najjar ‘carpenter’.

Hungarian and Jewish (from Hungary): nickname for a large or powerful person, from Hungarian nagy ‘big’. The family name is contrasted with Kiss and was sometimes used to describe the older of two bearers of the same personal name. Indian: variant of Nagi.

Muslim: variant of Shakir. English: unexplained.

Muslim: variant of Sadiq. Polish: occupational name for a fruit grower or topographic name for someone who lived by an orchard, from a derivative of Polish sad ‘orchard’ or sadzic ‘to plant’ (see Sada).

Muslim: see Hashim.

Muslim: variant of Abdullah.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, ?Hammad ‘much praising’, an intensive form of Hamid.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic farid ‘unique’, ‘matchless’.

Muslim and Jewish (Sephardic): from a personal name based on Arabic salim ‘perfect’, ‘faultless’, ‘safe’, ‘secure’. Salim bin Thabet was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The Mughal emperor Jahangir (1605–1627) was also known as Prince Salim. This is a widespread name in all Muslim countries.

Muslim (Arabic and Turkish): from a personal name based on Arabic ghanem ‘successful’, ‘prosperous’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic faris ‘horseman’, ‘knight’. English: variant spelling of Faires.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic karim ‘kind’, ‘generous’. Al-Karim ‘the Generous’ is an attribute of Allah. The word is found in compound names such as ?Abd ul-Karim ‘servant of the Most Generous’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?hamid ‘praising’, ‘praiser (of Allah)’, or ?hamid ‘praised’, ‘praiseworthy’. Al-?Hamid ‘the All-Laudable’ is an attribute of Allah. The name ?Abd-ul-Hamid means ‘servant of the All-Laudable’. The root ?hmd ‘praise’ is one of the most common elements in Arabic name forming; in addition to this name, it also lies behind names such as Ahmad and Muhammad.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ?Hasan ‘good’, ‘handsome’. Hasan (c.625–669) and his brother Husain were sons of the khalif ?Ali ibn Abi ?Talib (see Ali) and, through their mother Fatima, grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad. Shiite Muslims regard Hasan and his brother Husain as the true successors of Muhammad. The name is popular among Sunni Muslims as well as Shiites. Jewish: variant of Hazan.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Khalaf, literally ‘successor’, which is often used in combination with the father’s or the grandfather’s name. Khalaf bin Ahmad, an amir of the 10th century, was noted as a generous patron of learning.

Muslim: variant of Musa (Moses).

Muslim: variant of Rashid.

Muslim: variant spelling of Yasin.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic qasim ‘distributor’, ‘divider’. This was the name of a son of the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Suleiman (see Solomon). Suleiman (Solomon) is regarded in Islam as a prophet (Qur’an 27:17). Suleiman the Magnificent (1498–1566) was a renowned khalif of the Ottoman Empire. This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?amir ‘prince’, ‘commander’, ‘master’. ?Amri-al-Mu’minin ‘commander of the faithful’ was a title of Muslim khalifs. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?amir ‘prosperous’. Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Arabic name.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic karam ‘generosity’, ‘bounty’. In Arabic this name is usually used in combination with other words, e.g. Karamullah (Karam Allah ‘bounty of Allah’).

Muslim: from Arabic shaikh, a title denoting a political or spiritual leader of a community. Shaikh ul-Islam ‘leader of Islam’, was the title of the highest religious office in Ottoman Turkey. Shaikh also means ‘chief’ or ‘head’ (Qur’an 28:23). This name is found throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic wahba ‘gift’, ‘present’.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ?Abd al-Ra?hman ‘servant of the Merciful’. Al-Ra?hman ‘the Merciful’ is an attribute of Allah.

Muslim: variant of Salaam.

Muslim: variant of Shaheen.

Muslim: from Arabic ya sin, the first two letters at the beginning of sura 36 of the Qur’an, endowed with mystic significance, being interpreted as a divine address to the Prophet Muhammad. This is a popular personal name throughout the Islamic world.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a soap maker, from Middle High German seife, German Seife ‘soap’. Arabic: from a personal name based on sayf ‘sword’. Saifullah ‘sword of Allah’ was a title of honor bestowed by the Prophet Muhammad on the military leader Khalid ibn-al-Walid (see Khalid).

Arabic: probably from a personal name based on Arabic dhi’b ‘wolf’.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, ?Hammad ‘much praising’, an intensive form of Hamid.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic faraj ‘remedy (for troubles or grief)’, ‘comfort’.

(also Greek, Titos): from the Latin personal name Titus, which was borne by a disciple of St. Paul who became bishop of Crete. It is also found as a surname among Spanish speakers. habitational name from Tito in Potenza province. in southern Italy, possibly a nickname from Sicilian titu ‘small’.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, ?Hatim, literally ‘decisive’ or ‘determined’. ?Hatim al-Ta?iy (died 605) was a personage living in Arabia immediately before the rise of Islam, famous for his benevolence and hospitality. The name is popular throughout the Muslim world. Dutch: habitational name from a place in Gelderland.

Irish (especially northeastern Ulster): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hAnnaigh ‘descendant of Annach’, a byname of uncertain meaning. English: from the medieval female personal name Hannah or Anna, ultimately from Hebrew Chana ‘He (God) has favored me’ (i.e. with a child). The name is borne in the Bible by the mother of Samuel (1 Samuel 1: 1–28), and there is a tradition (unsupported by Biblical evidence) that it was the name of the mother of the Virgin Mary; this St. Anne was a popular figure in medieval art and legend. Scottish: variant of Hannay. German: from a pet form of the personal name Hans.

Muslim: variant of Salama.

Indian: variant spelling of Modi.

German: variant spelling of Radi. German: variant spelling of Radey, an occupational name from a Germanized form of Sorbian or Czech rataj ‘plowman’, ‘servant’. English: variant of Ready.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, Hashim, the byname of the great-grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad, who provided for pilgrims coming to the Ka’ba (the holy temple) in Mecca each year. Hashim literally means ‘crusher’. Hashim, whose original name was ?Amr, initiated a twice-yearly caravan (trading expedition) to Yemen and the Levant. The story goes that he returned from one such expedition bringing with him bread, which he crushed and distributed, earning him the nickname ‘the crusher’. The Kingdom of Jordan is known as ‘Hashemite’ because its rulers are descended from Hashim.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic rizq ‘livelihood’, ‘subsistence’ (see the Qur’an 34:15). The combination Rizq Allah means ‘nourishment provided by Allah’.

Muslim: variant of Abdo.

Spanish and Catalan: topographic name from rada ‘natural bay’. Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from places called Rada (Cantabria), Rada de Haro (Cuenca), La Rada (Albacete, Cuenca) or Rada de Moraira (Alacant), or from a Castilianized variant of Basque Arrada, habitational name from a place called Arrada in Navarre. Czech: from a short form of any of several Slavic personal names containing the first element rad- ‘glad’, ‘merry’, in particular Radoslav, in which the second element means ‘glory’, and Radomir, in which the second element means ‘great’, ‘famous’. Hungarian: from the old secular personal name Rada or Ráda, of Slavic origin.

Arabic: variant of Issa.

Muslim: variant of Arabic ?Uthman, a name of unknown etymology. This was the name of the third of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 644–656), one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, to whom he gave the good news of entering into paradise.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic fa?dil ‘virtuous’, ‘generous’, ‘excellent’.

Arabic: variant of Issa. Japanese: written with characters meaning ‘that’ and ‘help’. The name is found mostly in the Ryukyu Islands.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ma?hfu?z ‘safeguarded’, ‘well-protected’. This is a popular name throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: variant spelling of Younes.

Muslim: variant of Murad.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic jabir ‘comforter’, ‘healer’, ‘bone-setter’. Jabir ibn ?Abdullah was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–c. 815) is known as the father of Arabic alchemy.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad.

Muslim and Jewish (Sephardic): from Arabic abu ‘father’, in Muslim names used to form the ‘kunya’ (name meaning ‘father of’) in combination with the name of a man’s child, usually his firstborn son. Thus, a man might be addressed as Abu ?Hasan ‘father of Hasan’ rather than by his personal name, say ?Ali. In traditional Muslim society, a man is generally known and addressed by his kunya, rather than by his ism (his personal name), the use of which can seem unduly familiar. Abu-Bakr, literally ‘father of the Young Camel’ is the name by which Muhammad’s son-in-law, the first of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 632–634) is known. Abu-?Talib ‘father of the Seeker’ was an uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. Abu-Fadl, ‘father of the Virtuous one’ was the kunya of ?Abbas, another uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. A kunya may also be used to form a nickname, as in the case of Abu-Turab ?Ali ‘Ali, father of dust’, a kunya of Khalif Ali, the fourth of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs, conferred on him by the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim: variant of Abid.

Arabic: from a personal name based on Arabic nadir ‘extraordinary’, ‘rare’, ‘exceptional’. German (also Näder): occupational name for an embroiderer, later a tailor, from an agent derivative of Middle High German næjen ‘to embroider or sew’.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, ?Azzam, meaning ‘very determined’, ‘resolute’.

Arabic: variant of Nasser. German (Näser): nickname for a gourmand, from Middle High German neser ‘shoulder bag for food’. German: topographic name from German Nase ‘nose’, i.e. a projecting piece of land.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic salman ‘safe’. Salman al-Farsi was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world. Variant of Suleiman. Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Salmon 2. English, French, Dutch, and German: from a reduced form of Salomon. Compare Salmon 1.

Italian (Apulia): unexplained.

Galician: topographic name from Mero, a river in Galicia. Spanish and Catalan: probably a nickname from mero ‘grouper’ (the fish). Italian: possibly from mero ‘pure’, ‘sheer’ (Latin merus). Theoretically, this could also be a source of the Spanish name, but in any case it is difficult to explain its application. Hungarian (Méro): occupational name for someone who worked with scales, from méro ‘measure’, ‘measurer’, a noun derivative of mérni ‘to measure’.

Muslim, Balkan, and eastern Mediterranean: status name or honorific title from Turkish basa ‘pasha’, a title of rank for a regional governor in the Ottoman Empire.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic mu?hammad ‘praiseworthy’ (derived from the verb ?hamida ‘praise’). This is the name of the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (570–632). He began to receive spiritual revelations at the age of 40. The Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, was revealed to him by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel). As a personal name, this name is extremely common throughout the Muslim world.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic halim ‘patient’, ‘tolerant’. Al-Halim ‘the Forgiving’ is an attribute of Allah.

Muslim: see Daoud.

Hungarian: from the old Hungarian secular personal name Goda, probably from a short form of Godimir, Godislav, or some other Slavic name. Japanese: (Goda): ‘connected rice paddies’. The name is not common in Japan; this pronunciation is found mostly on the island of Shikoku. In western Japan it is pronounced Aita. Indian (Gujarat): Jain name of unknown meaning, based on the name of a Jain community.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?zahir ‘knowing’ or ‘clear’, ‘evident’.

Muslim: adjectival derivative of Sayed.

Polish (also Malak), Czech and Slovak (Malák): from a derivative of the common Slavic adjective maly ‘small’ (see Maly). As a Polish name it may also be a derivative of the Old Polish personal name Malomir. Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic malak ‘angel’.