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

Darwish, 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 Darwish surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Darwish in America

Darwish is the 18961st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Darwish surname appeared 1,439 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 Darwish.

We can also compare 2010 data for Darwish 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 Darwish

The surname Darwish is of Arabic origin, originating from the Middle East and North Africa region. It is derived from the Arabic word "darwish," which means "a mendicant dervish" or "a Sufi mendicant Muslim monk." The name likely emerged during the medieval period when Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, gained prominence in the region.

Historically, the Darwish surname was commonly associated with individuals who were members of Sufi orders or had connections to Sufi practices. These orders played a significant role in the spread of Islam and the preservation of Islamic teachings and cultural traditions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Darwish name can be found in the writings of the renowned Sufi poet and scholar, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), who mentioned individuals with the name in his works. Another notable figure was Sayyid Muhammad Nurbakhsh Darwish (1629-1667), a Sufi master and the founder of the Nurbakhshiyya order in Iran.

During the Ottoman Empire, which spanned across parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa from the 14th to the early 20th century, the Darwish surname was quite common among individuals with connections to Sufi orders or those who followed Sufi teachings. One prominent example is Ömer Dervish (1865-1909), a revolutionary figure from present-day Albania who played a significant role in the Albanian National Awakening.

Another notable individual with the Darwish surname was Ismail al-Darwish (1887-1968), a prominent Egyptian judge and legal scholar who served as the Chief Justice of the Egyptian Court of Cassation. He was also a member of the Al-Azhar Islamic Advisory Council and was highly respected for his contributions to Islamic jurisprudence.

In the literary realm, Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008), a Palestinian poet and author, was widely regarded as the national poet of Palestine. His works, which explored themes of Palestinian nationalism, exile, and resistance, gained him international acclaim and recognition as one of the most influential and celebrated Arab poets of the 20th century.

While the Darwish surname has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has since spread to various parts of the world due to migration and diaspora communities. However, its origins and historical connections to Sufism and Islamic traditions remain an integral part of its heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Darwish

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

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 Darwish 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 Darwish 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 Darwish was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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