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

Durani, 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 Durani surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Durani in America

Durani is the 130610th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Durani surname appeared 130 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 Durani.

The history of the last name Durani

The surname DURANI is of Afghan origin, with roots dating back to the 18th century during the Durrani Empire. It is derived from the name of the Abdali Pashtun tribe, who were led by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Afghan state.

The Abdali tribe traces its ancestry to the ancient Batan tribe, which inhabited the region between Kandahar and Herat in present-day Afghanistan. The word "Durrani" is believed to have been derived from the Persian word "durr," meaning pearl, and was used to describe the tribe's territory, which was known for its fertile lands and valuable resources.

The first recorded use of the surname DURANI can be found in historical documents from the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who ruled from 1747 to 1772. He was a prominent military commander and statesman who united the Pashtun tribes and established the Durrani Empire, which stretched from eastern Iran to northern India.

One of the earliest known members of the DURANI clan was Mir Wais Khan Hotak, a Ghilzai Pashtun who led a successful revolt against the Safavid Persian Empire in 1709. His son, Mahmud Hotak, briefly ruled as the Shah of Persia before being overthrown by Nader Shah Afshar in 1722.

During the Durrani Empire, the surname DURANI was adopted by many Pashtun families who were loyal to Ahmad Shah Durrani and his successors. Notable figures bearing the DURANI name include Dost Mohammad Khan (1793-1863), the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and Emir of Afghanistan, and Sher Ali Khan (1825-1879), who served as the Emir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1879.

In more recent times, the DURANI surname has been associated with influential political figures in Afghanistan, such as Mohammad Sarwar Dawood Khan Durani (1909-1972), who served as the Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1963 to 1965, and Abdul Qadir Durani (1935-2023), a former Afghan diplomat and politician.

Other notable individuals with the DURANI surname include Mohammad Akram Durani (1939-2011), an Afghan cricketer who played for the national team in the 1960s and 1970s, and Begum Khurshid Durani (1909-1989), a prominent Afghan politician and women's rights activist.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Durani

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

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 Durani 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.

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

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

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