Isfahani

The origin of the surname Isfahani

Isfahani means “from Isfahan.”

What kind of surname is Isfahani?

As a toponymic (locational) surname, the surname Isfahani originally described where its bearer lived or came from — a village, region, landscape feature or landmark. When people moved from one place to another, neighbours often identified the newcomer by their place of origin, and that association became a lasting family name. Some toponymic surnames name a specific town or county; others describe the local terrain, such as a hill, wood, field, ford or bridge beside which a family lived. These names are a kind of map of migration and settlement, recording where earlier generations put down roots.

How Persian surnames work

Iranian (Persian) surnames were adopted in the early twentieth century, following a law in the Reza Shah era. They commonly derive from an ancestor's name, a place, an occupation or a title, and use characteristic suffixes such as “-i” and “-zadeh” (“born of, descendant of”), “-pour/-pur” (“son of”) and “-nejad/-nia” (“of the lineage of”).