Arabic family names typically arise in a few ways: a patronymic using bin/ibn (“son of”) or bint (“daughter of”); a nisba — an origin name ending in -i that points to a place or tribe (Baghdadi, “from Baghdad”; Halabi, “from Aleppo”); an occupation, often with al- (“the”) — Haddad, “the blacksmith”; Najjar, “the carpenter”; and a descriptive name of a virtue or quality (Karim, “generous”; Amin, “trustworthy”).

Transliteration and the names of God

Because Arabic uses its own script, spellings vary widely in the Latin alphabet (Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohamad are the same). Several surnames echo the beautiful names of God, often as Abd al- (“servant of the”) — as in Abd al-Rahman, “servant of the Most Merciful.”

Frequently asked questions

How do Arabic surnames work?

They commonly come from a patronymic (bin/ibn, u201cson ofu201d), a place or tribe (a nisba ending in -i), an occupation (often with al-, u201ctheu201d), or a descriptive quality.

What does al- mean in Arabic surnames?

Al- means u201cthe,u201d as in al-Haddad, u201cthe blacksmith.u201d Itu2019s a common prefix in occupational and descriptive surnames.

Why is the same Arabic surname spelled different ways?

Arabic is written in its own script, so names are transliterated into the Latin alphabet in more than one way u2014 Mohammed and Muhammad are the same name.

All last names A–Z