Find out how popular the last name Atallah is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Atallah.

Atallah, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Atallah surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Atallah in America

Atallah is the 26212th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Atallah surname appeared 933 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Atallah.

We can also compare 2010 data for Atallah to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Atallah

The surname Atallah is of Arabic origin, derived from the phrase "at-tallah" which translates to "the elevation" or "the hill". It originated in the Middle East region, particularly in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.

The earliest known references to the name Atallah can be traced back to the 7th century, during the Islamic Golden Age. It was often used as a geographic marker to identify individuals residing in or near elevated areas or hills. As the Islamic empires expanded, the name spread across the region and into parts of North Africa.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name Atallah was Abu Bakr al-Atallah, a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist who lived in the 9th century. He was born in Kufa, Iraq, and played a significant role in the development of Islamic jurisprudence.

Another notable figure with the surname Atallah was Ibn al-Atallah al-Andalusi, a 12th-century Andalusian poet and philosopher from the city of Granada, Spain. His works were highly influential during the Moorish period in Iberia.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in various Arabic manuscripts and records, including the writings of the famous historian Ibn Khaldun, who mentioned a scholar named Atallah ibn Muhammad al-Atallah.

During the Ottoman Empire, the Atallah family was prominent in various regions, including modern-day Syria and Lebanon. One notable member was Muhammad Atallah, a 16th-century Ottoman scholar and poet from Damascus.

In the 19th century, the name gained prominence in the Levant region with the birth of Mikhail Atallah, a prominent Lebanese writer and journalist who played a key role in the Arab Renaissance (al-Nahda) movement.

It's worth noting that the name Atallah has also been associated with various place names throughout history, such as Tall Atallah (meaning "Hill of Atallah") in Syria and Jabal Atallah (meaning "Mountain of Atallah") in Lebanon.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Atallah

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Atallah.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Atallah was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Atallah has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Atallah was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Atallah, please contact us.

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