1000 Most Common Last Names in Somalia

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 of Abdo.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad. See also Mohammed.

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’.

Frisian, Dutch, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Ade. Scottish: habitational name from the old lands and barony of Auden or Aden in Aberdeenshire.

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: from a personal name based on Arabic fara?h ‘joy’, ‘happiness’, ‘delight’.

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’.

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: variant spelling of Husain.

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.

Muslim: see Youssef.

Spanish (Adán): from the personal name Adán, Spanish form of Adam. Scottish: probably a variant of Adam. Hungarian (Ádán): variant of Ádám, from the personal name Ádám, Hungarian form of Adam.

Muslim: from a derivative of Arabic jami? ‘author’, ‘writer’ (literally ‘gatherer’). Nur-ud-Din Abdur Rahman Jami? (1414–92) was a Persian Sufi poet.

French: nickname for a dissolute person, from Old French muse ‘amusement’, ‘dissipation’.

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 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.

Southern Italian (Calì) and Greek (Kalis): from the female personal name Kale, from the feminine form of the adjective kalos ‘good’, ‘beautiful’, or possibly from a shortened form of the male name Kallistos ‘best’.

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

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: variant of Muhammad.

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 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: 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 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 a personal name based on Arabic wali ‘lord’, ‘guardian’, ‘protector’, ‘saint’, or ‘friend’, often interpreted as a short form of Wali Allah ‘friend of God’, an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad. Indian (Kashmir): Hindu (Brahman) name, probably ulitmately derived from Arabic wali ‘lord’ (see 1). Indian (Karnataka): Hindu (Lingayat) name of unknown meaning.

English, Scottish, and northern Irish: probably a variant of Jelley. German and Frisian: from a Germanic personal name composed with gelt-, cognate with the verb gelten ‘sacrifice’, ‘repay’. Norwegian: unexplained.

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.

Spanish: topographic name for someone who lived by a conspicuous oak tree, from Spanish roble ‘oak tree’ (Latin robur). Altered spelling of German Robel.

Muslim: variant of Assad.

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.

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’.

Welsh: from the Welsh personal name Ith(a)el, Old Welsh Iudhail ‘bountiful lord’. English: habitational name from a place in West Yorkshire, which is probably named with a derivative of Old English idel ‘unused ground’, ‘patch of waste land’. English: derogatory nickname from Middle English idel ‘idle’, ‘indolent’, ‘useless’, ‘worthless’, ‘devoid of good works’.

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: variant of Abdullah.

French: occupational name from Old French mire ‘physician’.

Polish: Americanized spelling of Madej.

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

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.

Russian and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): alternative form of Duboff. Possibly also an Americanized spelling of French Dubeau.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic mahdi ‘guided’. This was the name of the twelfth Shiite imam, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 939, giving rise to a belief that he will return and unite Muslims under his leadership, triumphing over injustice.

Arabic (mainly Lebanon and Syria): from the personal name ?Isa, Arabic form of Hebrew Yeshua, Greek Iesous (see Jesus). This name is born by both Christian and Muslim Arabs. In Islam ?Isa is a prophet, ‘a messenger of Allah and his word’ (Qur’an 4:171). In the Qur’an 19:30, he proclaims, ‘He (Allah) has given me the Book and established me as a Prophet.’

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: see Kassem.