1000 Most Common Last Names in Saudi Arabia

Muslim: from a personal name or status name based on Turkish khan ‘ruler’, ‘nobleman’. This was originally a hereditary title among Tartar and Mongolian tribesmen (in particular Genghis Khan, 1162–1227), but is now very widely used throughout the Muslim world as a personal name. In Iran and parts of the Indian subcontinent it is used as an honorific title after a person’s name.

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: variant spelling of Ahmad.

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 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 Muhammad. See also Mohammed.

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: variant spelling of Husain.

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 (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 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 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: 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 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: variant of Mahmood.

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: 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: variant of Sheikh.

Muslim: variant spelling of Husain.

Indian: Hindu name found in several communities, from Sanskrit kumara ‘child’, ‘son’, ‘prince’. It is also an epithet of the god Kartikeya, the son of Shiva. It commonly occurs as the final element of compound given names, and sometimes as a personal name in its own right. Slovenian: either a variant spelling of Kumer or a variant of Humar, a topographic name for someone who lived on a hill, from holm (dialectally hum ‘hill’, ‘height’).

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 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: 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.

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 of Siddiqi.

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.

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.

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 (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: 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 the Arabic name An?sari ‘one who traces his lineage to one of the An?sar’. An?sar is the plural of Na?sir ‘friend’, ‘supporter’, a term traditionally used to denote the people of Medina who helped the Prophet Muhammad after the Hegira in 622 ad. Thabit ibn Qais al An?sari was one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, to whom he gave the good news of entry into paradise.

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

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 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.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad.

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: from the Persian royal title Shah ‘king’, ‘emperor’. This was the title adopted by the kings of the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–79). Shah is found in combination with other words, e.g. Shah Jahan (name of a Mughal emperor, ruled 1628–57) and Shah ?Alam ‘king of the world’ (name of a Mughal emperor, ruled 1707–12). This name is widespread in Iran and the subcontinent. Indian (Gujarat, Rajasthan): Hindu (Bania, Vania) and Jain name, from Gujarati sah ‘merchant’ (from Sanskrit sadhu ‘honest’, ‘good’). This name was originally Sah; it appears to have been altered under the influence of the Persian word for ‘king’ (see 1).

Muslim: variant of Abdullah.

Muslim: see Youssef.

Muslim: variant of Musa (Moses).

Muslim: variant of Mustafa.

Muslim: variant of Suleiman.

Muslim: from the Arabic family name ?Abbasi, a derivative of the personal name ?Abbas (see Abbas), denoting someone descended from or associated with someone called ?Abbas, in particular a descendant of the Abbasid dynasty of khalifs, who ruled the Islamic world from 750, when they founded a new capital in Baghdad, to 1258, when they were destroyed by the Mongols.

English: from a pet form of the personal name Samson (see Samson). Dutch (van Sam): variant of Van den Sand (see Sand 2). Nigerian and Ghanaian: unexplained. Chinese : variant of Shen. Chinese : variant of Shum. Other Southeast Asian: unexplained.

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: see Hamid.

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: from an Arabic personal name, ?Hamdan ‘much praise’, a derivative of Hamid. ?Hamdan was the name of a tribe in Arabia. The Hamdani dynasty ruled al-Jazira and Syria from 905 to 1004.

Muslim: from Arabic ud-din (al-din), meaning ‘(of) the religion’, usually a suffix attached to another word forming a compound Arabic personal name such as ?Salla?h ud-Din (see Saladin).

Muslim: variant of Salim.

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 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 (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: from a personal name based on Arabic ma?hmud, ‘praiseworthy’, ‘commendable’ (a derivative of ?hamida ‘to praise’; compare Muhammad). This is a popular name in all the countries of the Muslim world.

Muslim (common in Pakistan): from the Turkish word beg ‘bey’, originally a title denoting a local administrator in the Ottoman Empire, but subsequently widely used as a title of respect. Compare Beg.

Muslim (common in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India): from a title of Persian origin, a short form of Arabic Amir ‘prince’, ‘commander’. Polish: from a short form of any of various Old Polish personal names containing the element mir ‘peace’, ‘quiet’, ‘esteem’, for example Miroslaw or Jaromir. Catalan: patronymic from Mir, a medieval personal name of Germanic origin (see Miro). French: variant of Mire 1.

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: 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’.

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

Muslim: variant of Amir. Variant of English Amar.

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

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: from Arabic ?abduh ‘his servant’, i.e. ‘his (Allah’s) servant’. ?Abduh is one of the epithets of the Prophet 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 (Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan): from a personal name based on the Persian honorific title Mirza, a shortened form of mir-zadeh ‘child of a prince’.

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

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.

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 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: 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.

“Lion” in Sanskrit (Sinha). Hence Singapore - “City of the Lion”.

Muslim: from the Persian personal name Akhtar ‘star’, ‘good luck’. Akhtar is used in combination with other words, for example Akhtar-ud-Din ‘star of religion (i.e. Islam)’. The name is found in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as well as Iran.

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: 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.

Arabic: name indicating descent from the Quraish, the leading tribe in Mecca at the time of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (ad 570); the Prophet’s mother was a member of it. The Quraish at first opposed Muhammad’s teachings and persecuted him and his followers, but by the time of his death they had begun to accept the new faith and played an important role in bringing Arabia under the banner of Islam.

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: variant of Abdullah.

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.

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 Omar. French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements aud ‘wealth’ + mari, meri ‘renowned’. As a Huguenot name, it is also found in Germany. Possibly a respelling of German Ohmer.

Iranian: variant of Reza.

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

English, Scottish, and Indian (southern states): variant spelling of Matthew. It is found as a personal name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name among families from southern India.

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 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 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: see Daoud.

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: 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 Rahman. Variant of German Rehmann.

Indian (Kerala): Hindu (Nayar) name denoting membership of the Nayar community, which is from Malayalam nayar ‘leader’, ‘lord’, ‘soldier’ (from Sanskrit naya(ka) ‘leader’ + the honorific plural ending -r). The Nayars were regarded as protectors of the land. Northern Irish: reduced form of McNair.

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

Muslim: see Hashim.

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: see Hamid.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): occupational name for a blacksmith, Arabic ?haddad.

Muslim: see Youssef.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic faruq ‘distinguisher’, i.e. ‘one who distinguishes truth from falsehood’. Al-Faruq was a byname of ?Umar ibn al-Kha?t?tab, the second ‘rightly guided’ khalif (ruled 634–644), renowned for his stern and uncompromising execution of justice.

Muslim: variant of Rashid.

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

Indian (Gujarat, Bombay city, and Rajasthan): Hindu and Parsi name meaning ‘king’ in modern Indian languages. Rana does not have a Sanskrit equivalent; it is probably a back-formation from ra?ni ‘queen’ (Sanskrit rajñi, based on the analogy that nouns ending in -i and denoting females usually have masculine counterparts ending in -a). The name Rana was used as a title by some Rajput kings. As a surname, it is now found among Rajputs as well as several other communities. It is cognate with the name Rane, which occurs in Maharashtra and Goa. Spanish and Italian: from rana ‘frog’, hence a nickname, perhaps for someone with bulging eyes. Galician (Raña): habitational name from a place so called in the province of A Coruña.

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 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 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: from a personal name based on Arabic rashid ‘wise’, ‘judicious’, ‘rightly guided’, ‘right-minded’. Al-Rashid ‘the Right-Minded’ is an epithet of Allah (see the Qur’an 11:87). Rashid is used in combination with other words, e.g. ?Abd ur-Rashid ‘servant of the Right-Minded’. Harun ur-Rashid (786–809) was the most famous of the Abbasid khalifs. This name is widespread throughout the Muslim world.

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: from a personal name based on Arabic Aslam ‘most perfect’, ‘faultless’, an elative form of the adjective salim (see Salim).

Muslim: variant spelling of Yasin.

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’.

Indian (Kerala): derivative of the Greek personal name Georgios (see George), found as a personal name among Christians in Kerala (southern India) and in the U.S. used as a last name among families from Kerala.

Arabic: variant of Issa.

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 (especially common in Pakistan): from a personal name based on Persian javed ‘eternal’.

Indian (Gujarat, Maharashtra, southern states): Hindu name meaning ‘father’, derived from Prakrit bappa, used as a respectful term of address for a man, also as a term of endearment for a male child. In Gujarat and Maharashtra the family name comes from the respectful term of address, while in the southern states the term of endearment evolved into a male given name, which is used as a family name among South Indians in the U.S.

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: variant of Husain.

Muslim: variant of Abid.