1000 Most Common Last Names in Indonesia

Southeast Asian: unexplained.

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: from a personal name based on Arabic ?hadi ‘leader’, ‘guide’. Al-?Hadi ‘the Guide’ is one of the names of Allah. It is also a title of ?Ali ibn Muhammad Naqi, tenth imam of the Shiites (died 868).

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 (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.

Respelling of North German Rohmann.

Muslim: see Youssef.

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 (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: from a personal name based on Arabic hakim ‘learned’, ‘wise’. Al-Hakim ‘the All-Wise’ is an attribute of Allah. It may also be a status name from the Arabic noun hakim ‘governor’, ‘judge’, ‘scholar’ or Persian haekim ‘wise man’, ‘philosopher’, or ‘physician’. In the Indian subcontinent it generally denotes a physician, in particular one specializing in traditional herbal remedies. Al-Hakim ‘the Judge’ is also an attribute of Allah.

Iranian: from the Persian form of Alexander.

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 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: probably from Arabic ba?hri ‘maritime’, a derivative of ba?hr ‘sea’. This could also be an ethnic name for someone from Bahrain. Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Khatri) and Sikh name, said to be from Panjabi ba’ra ‘twelve’. The Bahris are one of the major subdivisions of the Khatri community and comprise twelve clans: Chopra, Dhawan, Kapur, Khanna, Mehrotra, Sehgal, Seth, Talwar, and Vohra, and (not included in this dictionary) Tannan, Maindharu, and Wadhaun.

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 an Arabic personal name based on Arabic huda ‘right guidance’.

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 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 (Iranian and Indian subcontinent): from the Persian form of Arabic ?Uthman. Compare Osman.

Muslim (mainly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh; also Iran): from a personal name based on Arabic akbar ‘greater’, ‘greatest’, an elative adjective from kabir ‘great’. Allahu Akbar (‘Allah is the Greatest’) is a slogan of Muslims throughout the world. The Mughal emperor known in English as Akbar the Great (Jalal ud-Din Akbar; 1542–1605) extended his rule from a base in Panjab to cover most of the Indian subcontinent by the time of his death. His rule was notable for the integration of Hindus and Muslims in positions of power.

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

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: 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 (?Arif): from the Arabic adjective ?arif ‘learned’, ‘expert’.

Muslim: variant of Salaam.

Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: Hindu (Kayasth) name, from Sanskrit candra ‘pleasant’, ‘shining’, ‘moon’. It occurs commonly as the final element of compound given names such as Ramachandra and Krishnachandra. Compare Chand and Chander.

Spanish (Agustín): from the Spanish personal name Agustín, a vernacular form of Latin Augustinus (see Austin).

Muslim and Hindu (mainly Panjab): status name from a title meaning ‘lord’, ‘ruler’, ‘chief’, from Arabic malik ‘king’. In the subcontinent this is often found as a title for the headman of a village. In Islam Al-Malik ‘the King’ is one of the attributes of Allah, regarded as ‘the king of mankind’ (Qur’an 114:2), and this word is used in combination in names such as ?Abd-ul Malik ‘servant of the King’. This was the name of an Umayyad khalif (685–705). Czech, Slovak (Malík), and Slovenian: nickname for a small person, from a pet form of a vocabulary word meaning ‘small’ (Polish maly, Czech malý ‘small’, Slovenian mali). Compare Maly.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic latif ‘kind’, ‘gentle’. Al-Latif ‘the Kind’ is an attribute of Allah. This name is found in combinations such as ?Abd-al-Latif ‘servant of the Kind’.

Italian: from the female personal name Diana, the name borne in Roman mythology by the goddess of the moon and of hunting.

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.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic munir ‘bright’, ‘brilliant’, ‘radiant’.

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

Muslim: variant of Mahmood.

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: 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.

from a personal name based on na?sir ‘supporter’, ‘helper’ (Qur’an 9:116). from a personal name based on na?sir ‘protector’. It is found in compounds such as Nasruddin (Arabic Na?sir ud-Din) ‘protector of religion’, i.e. ‘defender of the faith (Islam)’. Compare Nasser.

Muslim: from an Arabic personal name, Idris. Idris is mentioned in the Qur’an as a prophet, and many legends are related of him in Arabic folklore and literature. Linguistically, his name corresponds to Hebrew Ezra, Greek Esdras, but the Muslim figure is not the same person as the Biblical prophet of this name. Some legends about him correspond more nearly to those about the Biblical Enoch. Idris ibn-Abdullah (died 793) was founder of the Idrisid dynasty which ruled Morocco from 789–926 ad.

Muslim: variant of Suleiman.

Italian: patronymic from the personal name Rino, probably a reduced form of any of numerous names ending with -ro or -ra, of which the root has been completely lost.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic majid ‘glorious’, ‘noble’. Al-Majid ‘the Glorious’ is an attribute of Allah, and this name is found in combinations such as ?Abd-ul Majid ‘servant of the All-Glorious’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic nur ‘light’, ‘illumination’. Al-Nur ‘the Light’, is an attribute of Allah. It is also found in compound names such as Nur Allah (Nurullah) ‘Light of Allah’ and Nur ud-Din (Nuruddin) ‘Light of Religion’. Dutch: ethnic name for a Norwegian.

from a personal name based on Arabic ?alam ‘emblem’, ‘banner’, hence an epithet for a distinguished man. ?Alam-al-Huda (‘banner of guidance’) is an honorific title of the Prophet Muhammad. Alam is generally found in names in combination with other words. from a personal name based on Arabic ?alam, literally ‘world’. ?Alamgir (in combination with the Persian word gir ‘conqueror’) was a title of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1618–1707), who ruled the Indian subcontinent from 1658 to 1707. This name is found in a variety of compounds, which are popular in the subcontinent, for example Badrul-?Alam ‘full moon of the world’.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic wahhab ‘giver’. Al-Wahhab ‘the All-Giver’ is one of the names of Allah (Qur’an 38:35). As a personal name, this is usually found in compounds such as ?Abd al-Wahhab ‘servant of the All-Giver’. Mu?hammad ibn ?Abd al-Wahhab (1703–87) was the founder of the Wahhabi movement for the purification of Islam.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ra?him ‘merciful’, ‘compassionate’. Ur-Ra?him ‘the Merciful’ is an attribute of Allah (see the Qur’an 2:173). The name is also found in combinations such as ?Abd ur-Ra?him ‘servant of the Merciful’.

German: habitational name from any of several places so called, for example near Paderborn.

Italian: patronymic form of Martino. German: Latinized patronymic from Martin 1.

Indian (Gujarat): Hindu (Vania) name, from the Sanskrit epithet dani ‘liberal in giving’.

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.

Italian: from pane ‘bread’, applied as a metonymic occupational name for a baker or as a nickname meaning ‘a good thing’. Dutch: from a pet form of the personal name Frans, Dutch form of Francis. Variant of English Paine.

Spanish and Galician: habitational name from any of the places so called in Galicia, Málaga, and Tenerife, in particular a suburb of Seville.

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).

Origin unidentified.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ’Is?haq. In Islam this is the name of a Prophet (Biblical Isaac), the son of Ibrahim (Biblical Abraham). See the Qur’an 37:112.

Spanish (María), Italian, Portuguese, and Hungarian (Mária): from the female personal name, Latin Maria, which arose as a back-formation from the early Christian female name Mariam. This was mistaken for an accusative case, with the usual Latin feminine accusative ending -am, but in fact it is an Aramaic form of the Hebrew name Miryam (see Marie).

Norwegian: variant spelling of Li 4. In Norway this is the most frequent spelling. Dutch (de Lie): from a short form of the saint’s name Odilia, the Latin form of a Germanic name Odela, from othala ‘paternal inheritance or possession’. Variant of Korean Li.

German (Rochmann): variant of Rückmann (see Ruckman). Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Rauchman, elaborated form of Rauch. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metronymic name from the Yiddish female personal name Rokhe, a pet form of Biblical Rachel + man ‘man’ in the sense of ‘husband’.

Muslim (especially common in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh): from a personal name based on Arabic ’iqbal ‘prosperity’, ‘success’. Allama Iqbal (1873–1938) was a great poet and philosopher in India.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic man?sur ‘victorious’, ‘triumphant’. This word is found in compound names such as Man?sur-ud-Din ‘victorious in religion’. The second of the Abbasid khalifs was Al-Man?sur Abu-Ja?far (c. 712–75), who built the city of Baghdad in 762 and is considered the real founder of the Abbasid khalifate.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Musa (the Biblical Moses). The Qur’an says (19:51): ‘He was specially chosen, and he was a Messenger and a Prophet.’ Southern Italian: habitational name from a place called Musa, particularly the one in Melito di Porto Salvo in Reggio Calabria, and the one in Nissorìa in Enna province, Sicily.

English, French, Dutch, Slovenian, Croatian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements heri, hari ‘army’ + man ‘man’. As a Jewish surname this is no doubt an adoption of the German surname Hermann. Respelling of the German cognate Hermann.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name ?Husayn, a diminutive of ?Hasan ‘good’, ‘handsome’ (see Hasan). Husain (c. 626–680) and his elder brother Hasan were sons of the khalif ?Ali ibn Abi ?Talib (see Ali) and, through their mother Fatima, grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad. The death of Husain in a massacre at Karbela signaled the beginning of a long period of internecine strife in the Muslim world. Shiite Muslims regard Hasan and his brother Husain as the true successors of Muhammad, and observe the day of his death as a day of mourning. The name is popular among Sunni Muslims as well as Shiites.

patronymic or plural form of Mariano. in some cases, a habitational name from Mariano in Bergamo, or Mariano Comense in Como, although as a Lombardic surname it is unlikely to have contributed greatly to the American surname.

Indian: honorific term used with the names of women, from Sanskrit devi ‘goddess’. It is used as a last name by some women who do not have a surname as such.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic jalil ‘great’, ‘exalted’, ‘magnificent’. Jalil ‘the Exalted’ is an attribute of Allah. This name is found in combinations such as ?Abdul-Jalil ‘servant of the Exalted’.

Muslim: from Arabic ?abdul, ?abd al ‘servant of the …’. Abdul is normally a component of a compound name referring to one of the attributes of Allah mentioned in the Qur’an or the Hadith, for example ?Abdul?Aziz ‘servant of the Powerful’, ?Abdul-?Hakim ‘servant of the Wise’, ?Abdul-Qadir ‘servant of the Capable’.

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.

Chinese : from a place named Lan-tian (meaning ‘blue field’) in Guangdong province. Polish (Lan): perhaps from the vocabulary word lan ‘plowland’, ‘soil’. Polish (Lan): alternatively, perhaps a nickname from a derivative of lania ‘hind’, ‘doe’.

Bulgarian (Káro): from the Turkish loanword kara ‘black’. Jewish (Sephardic, also Ashkenazic): nickname from Spanish caro ‘dear’. The surname is recorded in Toledo, Spain, in the 14th century. The Ashkenazic branch is ultimately of Sephardic origin. Slovenian: unexplained.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ra’uf ‘compassionate’. Al-Ra’uf ‘the Compassionate’ is one of the attributes of Allah. This name is found in combinations such as ?Abd al-Ra’uf ‘servant of the Compassionate’.

Muslim (widespread throughout the Islamic world): from a personal name based on Arabic iman ‘belief’, ‘faith’ (see the Qur’an 4:25).

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’.

Origin unidentified.

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

Muslim: Arabic family name meaning ‘descended from or associated with A?hmad’ (see Ahmad).

African: unexplained. Compare Bah. Arabic: from a shortened form of Aba, accusative case of Abu ‘father’. Vietnamese: unexplained. Chinese : from the name of the kingdom of Ba, which existed in Sichuan during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 bc). Descendants of some of the ruling class adopted the name of the kingdom as their surname. This character still has as one of its meanings an ancient name for Sichuan province. Researchers believe that another branch of the Ba clan came from Shanxi province during the Han dynasty (206 bc–220 ad). Additionally, when Manchus and Mongolians came from the north to China several hundred years ago, many adopted the surname Ba.

Polish, Ukrainian, and Czech: variant of Komar ‘gnat’.

French: unexplained. Galician: probably a habitational name from a place called Aris in Galicia. Latvian: from the personal name Arijs.

Polish (Ro?zak, Ró?zak): metronymic from the personal name Ró?za, a derivative of the vocabulary word ró?za ‘rose’ (see Rose), or patronymic from the masculine form Róg (see Rog).

Arabic (?Abbadi): denoting someone whose ancestors belonged to the ?Abbad tribe (see Abad). Jewish (Sephardic): adoption of the Arabic surname.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ra?is ‘leader’, also found in combinations such as Ra?is ud-Din ‘leader of religion’. German and Swiss German: from the personal name Ragiso, a pet form of any of the Germanic compound names beginning with the element rag-, a short form of ragin ‘advice’. German and Czech: Slavic spelling of German Reis. German and Czech: from an altered short form of the Biblical personal name Zacharias.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ?samad ‘everlasting’. As-Samad ‘the Everlasting’ is an epithet of Allah (Qur’an 112: 2). As a personal name, this is normally found in the combination ?Abd al-?Samad (Abdus-?Samad) ‘servant of the Lord’.

German: humanistic patronymic from the genitive case of the Latin personal name Antonius (see Anthony). Italian: from the personal name Antonio (see Anthony). Greek (Antonis): from the personal name Antonios (see Anthony), or a shortened form of Antoniadis or Antonidakis, patronymics from this name.