1000 Most Common Last Names in Syria

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 spelling of Husain.

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 Mahmood.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic thaman ‘price’, ‘value’.

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 of Mustafa.

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 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 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 Youssef.

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

Muslim: variant of Musa (Moses).

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 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 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.

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’.

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

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

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: see Kassem.

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

Muslim: variant spelling of Yasin.

Muslim: variant spelling of Abboud.

Muslim: see Hamid.

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: 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 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 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 faris ‘horseman’, ‘knight’. English: variant spelling of Faires.

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 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.

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 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 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: variant of Salaam, found especially in North Africa and other areas of former French influence.

Muslim: variant spelling of Younes.

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 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 shahadah ‘testimony’, ‘belief in Islam’. The shahadah is the declaration of faith by Muslims, ‘I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.’ New converts recite the shahadah when they become Muslims.

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.

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.

Italian: patronymic from a short form of the medieval personal name Ademaro, Adimaro, derived from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements adal ‘noble’ + mari, meri ‘famous’. In southern Italy, it is more often from a short form of Amari, or a nickname from amaro, amaru, also maru ‘unlucky’. Italian: patronymic from the personal name Mario. Catalan (Marí): occupational name from marí ‘mariner’ or nickname for someone who lived by the sea. Hungarian: from the personal name Mári, a pet form of Márton (see Martin) or Márkus (see Mark), or of the female name Mária (see Maria).

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).

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

Muslim: see Hamid.

Muslim: variant of Suleiman.

Muslim: from an Arabic surname, ?Hamidi, indicating descent from or association with someone called Hamid.

Muslim: see Daoud.

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: 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: variant of Mattar.

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

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic haidar ‘lion’. This was an epithet of ?Ali ibn Abi ?Talib, fourth of the ‘rightly guided’ khalifs (ruled 656–61), the first imam of the Shiite Muslims.

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 ?ubayd ‘inferior servant’. It is found in combinations such as Obeidullah ‘humble servant of Allah’.

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 the personal name Dawud, Arabic form of David. In Islam, Dawud is a messenger of Allah, noted in particular as the father of the Prophet Suleiman.

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

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 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 (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 fawaz ‘winner of victories’.

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’.

Dutch, Danish, North German, English, Polish, etc.; Czech and Slovak (Ján): from the personal name Jan, a vernacular form of Latin Johannes (see John). Slovenian: from a pet form of the personal name Janez (see John). Muslim: unexplained. Chinese : variant of Zhan.

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 faya?d ‘generous’.

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 and Christian Arabic: from an Arabic personal name asaf, of unknown etymology. This was the name of Suleiman’s grand wazir, whence it came to be used proverbially as a name for any wise counselor. Jewish (Sephardic): either an adoption of the Arabic name or from the Biblical name Asaph, name of a counselor of King David and King Solomon, to whom authorship of twelve of the Psalms is attributed (1 Chronicles 16:4–5; Psalms 50, 73–83).

from a distinguishing epithet, aswad ‘black’. from a personal name based on Arabic as?ad ‘happier’, ‘luckier’, comparative of the adjective sa?id ‘happy’ (see Saeed).

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: 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’.

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

Greek, Spanish (Elías), Catalan, Portuguese, English, Welsh, French (Élias), German, Dutch, Hungarian (Éliás), Czech (Eliáš), and Jewish: from a medieval personal name, the New Testament Greek form of Hebrew Eliyahu ‘Jehovah is God’ (Anglicized as Elijah in the Old Testament of the King James Bible). This name was borne by a Biblical prophet, but its popularity among Christians in the Middle Ages was a result of its adoption by various early saints, including a 7th-century bishop of Syracuse and a 9th-century Spanish martyr.

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’.

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: from a personal name based on Arabic ghazi ‘conqueror’, ‘fighter for the faith’. This was a title borne by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1658–1707).

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: probably a variant of Arabic ?A’idah ‘returning visitor’.

Muslim: variant of Noor.

Muslim: see Hashim.

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 Noori.

Muslim: from Arabic Ayyub, the Arabic form of the Hebrew (Biblical) name Iyob ‘Job’. In the suras he is regarded as a messenger of Allah. This name is borne by Christians (in Lebanon and elsewhere) as well as by Muslims. The spread of the name among Muslims is partly due to the fame of ?Sala?h ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (Saladin), founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.

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, ?Hammad ‘much praising’, an intensive form of Hamid.

Italian (Alò): perhaps from an Italian adaption of the Catalan personal name Eloi, equivalent of Italian Eligio, from French Eloy. The cult of St Eligio, patron of horses and blacksmiths, was very popular in the Middle Ages. Alternatively, the family name could be from Greek alós ‘prisoners’, ‘captives’. Spanish: unexplained. Samoan and Hawaiian: unexplained.

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.

Origin unidentified.

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

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 murad ‘will’, ‘purpose’, ‘wish’. This was the name of a son of the 16th-century Mughal emperor Akbar.

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.

Arabic (Lebanon and Syria): from Arabic khuri ‘priest’, in particular a Christian priest.

Muslim: status name based on Arabic kha?tib ‘orator’, ‘preacher’, ‘speaker’, bestowed as an honorific title on someone who delivers a sermon (khutba) on a Friday during the Jum?a prayers.

Origin unidentified.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic akram ‘most generous’, an elative form of Karim.

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

Muslim: from a variant of Arabic nadhir ‘warner’. Al-Nadhir ‘the Warner’ is an epithet of the Prophet Muhammad, in the sense ‘one sent by Allah to warn mankind’ (Qur’an 7:188).

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic kabir ‘splendid’, ‘magnificent’. Al-Kabir ‘the Magnificent’ is an attribute of Allah.

Arabic: variant of Girgis.

Italian: unexplained.

Muslim: variant of Abdo.

Arabic (Egypt and Syria): probably from a personal name based on the Arabic root b?tr ‘wild’ or ‘proud’. Possibly an altered spelling of French Bitard, from a noun derivative of Middle French bite (from Old Norse biti ‘tooth’), later ‘piece of wood’, ‘tiller’, used as a nickname for a surly man, or possibly an occupational name for a boatman.

Muslim: variant of Assad.

Muslim: variant of Muhammad.

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)’.

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

Arabic: from a personal name based on kan?an ‘beauty’, or from a personal name bestowed with reference to the land of Canaan in the Bible.

Muslim: variant of Shakir. English: unexplained.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ghazal ‘gazelle’. Abu ?Hamid al-Ghazali (died 1111) was a famous Muslim sage.

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: from either of two Arabic personal names, based on ?sadiq ‘friend’, ‘companion’ (see the Qur’an 26:101) or ?siddiq ‘righteous’, ‘upright’ (see the Qur’an 19:54).

Muslim: variant of Masood. In this spelling the name is particularly common in North Africa.

Muslim: from the Arabic personal name Ya?qub, the name of a Prophet in Islam (the Biblical Jacob). This name is widespread in all Muslim countries.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): occupational name from Arabic qa?s?sab ‘butcher’.

from a personal name based on ra?hil ‘explorer’, ‘one who udertakes a journey’. alternatively, perhaps, from the female personal name Rahel (Biblical Rachel).

Arabic: occupational name from ghannam ‘shepherd’.

Muslim: from Turkish agha ‘leader’, ‘ruler’. Aga Khan is the title of the leader of the Ismaili sect of Shiite Muslims.

Muslim and Jewish (Sephardic): from a personal name based on Arabic na?im ‘bliss’, ‘happiness’.

probably from the adjective ?asfur ‘yellow’, ‘saffron-colored’. alternatively, a nickname from Arabic ?usfur ‘sparrow’, ‘small bird’.

Muslim: variant of Amir. Variant of English Amar.

Muslim: variant of Jabbar.

Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: Hindu (Baishya) name meaning ‘merchant’, from Sanskrit sadhu ‘honest’, ‘good’.

Indian (northeastern states): Hindu name found among several communities, from Sanskrit raja ‘king’. Indian (Karnataka): name found in the Bunt community of coastal Karnataka, of unknown meaning.

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.

English: occupational name for a maker of sacks or bags, from an agent derivative of Old English sacc ‘sack’, ‘bag’.

Muslim: from the Arabic female personal name Zahra’, feminine of Azhar ‘bright’, ‘brilliant’, ‘radiant’. Zahra’ is an epithet of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad.

Jewish (American): shortened form of Nemerovski or Nemirovski (see Nemeroff).

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

English, Welsh, French, South Indian, etc.: from the personal name George, Greek Georgios, from an adjectival form, georgios ‘rustic’, of georgos ‘farmer’. This became established as a personal name in classical times through its association with the fashion for pastoral poetry. Its popularity in western Europe increased at the time of the Crusades, which brought greater contact with the Orthodox Church, in which several saints and martyrs of this name are venerated, in particular a saint believed to have been martyred at Nicomedia in ad 303, who, however, is at best a shadowy figure historically. Nevertheless, by the end of the Middle Ages St. George had become associated with an unhistorical legend of dragon-slaying exploits, which caught the popular imagination throughout Europe, and he came to be considered the patron saint of England among other places. As an American family name, this has absorbed cognates from other European languages, including German Georg and Greek patronymics such as Georgiou, Georgiadis, Georgopoulos, and the status name Papageorgiou ‘priest George’. In English-speaking countries, this surname is also found as an Anglicized form of Greek surnames such as Hatzigeorgiou ‘George the Pilgrim’ and patronymics such as Giorgopoulos ‘son of George’. It is used as a given name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. has come to be used as a surname among families from southern India.

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 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.

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.

English and Scottish: metonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Middle English hod(de), hood, hud ‘hood’. Some early examples with prepositions seem to be topographic names, referring to a place where there was a hood-shaped hill or a natural shelter or overhang, providing protection from the elements. In some cases the name may be habitational, from places called Hood, in Devon (possibly ‘hood-shaped hill’) and North Yorkshire (possibly ‘shelter’ or ‘fortification’). Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hUid ‘descendant of Ud’, a personal name of uncertain derivation. This was the name of an Ulster family who were bards to the O’Neills of Clandeboy. It was later altered to Mac hUid. Compare Mahood.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic qadir ‘powerful’ or qadir ‘able’, ‘capable’. Both Al-Qadir ‘the All-Powerful’ and Al-Qadir ‘the Capable’ are attributes of Allah. Qadir is found in combinations such as ?Abd-ul-Qadir ‘servant of the All-Powerful’ or Nur-ul-Qadir ‘light of the All-Powerful’. ?Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani (1077–1166) was one of the most celebrated Sufis in Islam. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): occupational name from Hebrew qador ‘potter’. Czech (Kader): nickname for someone with curly hair, from kader ‘curl’, now a rather old-fashioned term. Compare Kudrna. German: perhaps from the Germanic personal name Cado.

Finnish: unexplained. Galician and Portuguese: habitational name from O Ramo or Monte de Ramo, places in Galicia, or from Ramo in Portugal. Spanish: perhaps a topographic name from ramo ‘branch’ (compare Ramos).

German: from the river of this name in central Europe, denoting someone who lived on its banks. German (Öder): variant of Eder. Jewish (Ashkenazic): possibly as in 1, or from a western or northeastern Yiddish pronunciation of adar, the name of a month of the Jewish calendar. This is considered a happy time of year mainly because the festival of Purim is celebrated during this month and because Jewish tradition has it that Moses was born in this month.

English: from a Germanic personal name, Aimeri, composed of the elements haim ‘home’ + ric ‘power’. (The same elements constitute the etymology of Henry.) The name was introduced into England from France by the Normans. There has been some confusion with Emery.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): occupational name from Arabic ?sabbagh ‘dyer’.

Arabic and Jewish (Sephardic): occupational name from Arabic na?h?has ‘coppersmith’.

Origin unidentified.

Arabic: from the personal name ?Antar, a hero of Arabian romantic mythology, originating in Mecca. ?Antar is also the name of a tribal subdivision in Iraq.

Dutch: perhaps an altered form of Dutch Kaak, from Middle Dutch cake ‘jaw’ or ‘cheek’, hence a descriptive nickname alluding to some facial peculiarity. Dutch: from Dutch kaag (earlier kaack), the same word as English keg. A bierkaacker was someone who used a beer hoist to carry and deliver kegs of beer. There was a Marten Hendricksz de Bierkaacker at Beverwijck (Albany) in the 17th century. North German: occupational name for a cook, from Kaack(er), Low German equivalent of German Koch.

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.

Spanish: probably a topographic name, from Basque abar ‘foliage’.

Muslim: variant of Abid.

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

from the personal name Zeno, from the Greek personal name Zenon, an ancient derivative of Zeus, name of the king of the gods in Greek mythology. Zenon is the name of several saints and martyrs venerated in the Greek Orthodox Church, and in the form Zeno or Zenone it was also the name of a 4th-century saint from Verona. The Greek name may also be a shortened form of a derivative of the above, for example Zenovi(o)s or Zenopoulos. This is sometimes found as an alternative for Lusignan, a powerful family in the Middle East in medieval times. Also possibly from tsenos, Southern Italian Greek form of Greek xenos ‘newcomer’, ‘stranger’ (see Xenos).

Jewish: from the Biblical personal name Hanan or a short form of Elchanan or Johanan for example.

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

Arabic: from the personal name Mika’il (see Michael). variant transcription of Greek Michael.

North German and Frisian: from the Old Frisian personal name Beyo or Boy(e) (see Boye). French: habitational name from any of the places so named, in Ain, Meurthe-et-Moselle, or Saône-et-Loire. French (Burgundy): topographic name for someone who lived by a mill stream. Muslim: from beg ‘bey’, a Turkish title of respect. Compare Baig.

= Daley, q.v.

From Anton, a vernacular form of Latin Antonius (see Anthony) in Spanish (Antón), German, Swedish, Czech (Anton or Anton, short forms of Antonín), and several other languages.

Italian: from the male personal name Nicola, from Greek Nikolaos (see Nicholas). This was a very common Italian name in the Middle Ages.

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

Iranian: from a personal name based on Persian azer ‘fire’, also denoting the ninth month of Persian solar year. Ethnic name for an Azeri. The Azeri people (so named from Persian azer ‘fire’, because they were originally fire worshipers) are Shiite Muslims who mostly live in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea to the north of Iran.

English: occupational name for a watchman or guard, from Old English weard ‘guard’ (used as both an agent noun and an abstract noun). Irish: reduced form of McWard, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Bhaird ‘son of the poet’. The surname occurs throughout Ireland, where three different branches of the family are known as professional poets. Surname adopted by bearers of the Jewish surname Warshawski, Warshawsky or some other Jewish name bearing some similarity to the English name. Americanized form of French Guerin.

Muslim (A?t?tar): occupational name from Arabic a?t?tar ‘perfumer’.

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 a personal name based on Arabic rafiq ‘intimate friend’, ‘companion’ (see the Qur’an 4:69). The name is used in combinations such as Rafiq ul-Islam ‘friend of Islam’.

Indian: variant of Raj in the southern states. Among Tamil and Malayalam speakers who have migrated from their home state, it is a variant of Rajan.

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

Southern Italian (Sicily and Calabria): variant of Elia.

Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic ra’id ‘model’, ‘leader’, ‘pioneer’. Dutch: metonymic occupational name for an adviser, counselor, or member of a town council, from raad ‘advice’, ‘counsel’.

Italian and Spanish: from the personal name Primo, meaning ‘first’ (Latin Primus), given to the eldest son in a family, or, in the case of the Italian name, a habitational name from a place named with this word. Portuguese and Spanish: relationship name, from primo ‘cousin’. Greek (Primos): nickname for a sailor, from Greek primos in the sense ‘favorable wind’, a derivative of Italian primo ‘first’.

English, German, French, and Jewish: from the personal name, Hebrew Yosef ‘may He (God) add (another son)’. In medieval Europe this name was borne frequently but not exclusively by Jews; the usual medieval English vernacular form is represented by Jessup. In the Book of Genesis, Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob, who is sold into slavery by his brothers but rises to become a leading minister in Egypt (Genesis 37–50). In the New Testament Joseph is the husband of the Virgin Mary, which accounts for the popularity of the given name among Christians.

French form of Aubrey, also a variant spelling of this found in English. In French-speaking Canada, Aubry is found as a Frenchification of O’Brennan among the Irish who fought alongside the French against the English in the mid 18th century; they found it expedient to adopt a French identity after the defeat at the Plains of Abraham.

Arabic: occupational name from hajjar ‘stonemason’.

Muslim and Jewish (Sephardic): from a personal name or nickname based on Arabic ?tawil ‘tall’.

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’.

Polish: nickname from duma ‘pride’, ‘self-respect’, or dumac ‘to ponder or reflect’.

Origin unidentified.

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 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.

Japanese: ‘harvested field’; variously written, with such variation in the characters used for the second syllable that the name can be pronounced either Kano or Kano. There are several place names of both pronunciations throughout Japan. One Kano family was descended from the Ito branch of the southern Fujiwara. A Kano family was descended from daimyo of Suruga (now part of Shizuoka prefecture), and another from the Matsudaira family of Kano-mura in Mikawa (now part of Aichi prefecture). Jewish (Ashkenazic): see Cohen.

Arabic: from a French spelling of the Arabic personal name Butros ‘Peter’ (Greek Petros), found among Christians, especially in Egypt.

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

Indian (Panjab): Sikh name found in the Jat community; in Hindi and Panjabi it means ‘cloud’, from Sanskrit vardala ‘water’.

Indian (Panjab): Sikh name based on the name of a Jat tribe.

Muslim (?Arafat): ornamental religious name adopted with reference to a plain lying twelve miles southwest of Mecca, where pilgrims spend a day praying during the hajj.