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

Mehdi, 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 Mehdi surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mehdi in America

Mehdi is the 29947th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mehdi surname appeared 784 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 Mehdi.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mehdi 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 Mehdi

The surname Mehdi has its origins in Arabic and is derived from the word "Mahdi," which means "the guided one" or "the righteous leader." It is believed to have first emerged in the Middle East, particularly in regions like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, where Arabic was the dominant language.

The name Mehdi holds significant historical and religious significance in Islamic tradition. It is associated with the concept of the Mahdi, a messianic figure who is believed to appear at the end of times to restore justice and peace on Earth. This connection has contributed to the widespread use of the surname among Muslim communities across the world.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Mehdi can be found in the writings of renowned Islamic scholars and historians from the 7th and 8th centuries. These writings often mentioned individuals who bore the name, indicating its presence during the early days of Islam.

In the 10th century, a notable figure named Al-Mehdi Al-Fatimi, also known as Obaidallah al-Mahdi, founded the Fatimid Caliphate in North Africa. He played a significant role in the spread of Shia Islam and the establishment of the Fatimid dynasty, which ruled over a vast empire spanning parts of North Africa, Sicily, and the Middle East.

Another historical figure associated with the surname Mehdi is Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He claimed to be the promised Messiah and Mahdi, and his followers adopted the surname Mehdi as a way of honoring his teachings and beliefs.

In India, the surname Mehdi gained prominence during the Mughal Empire, which ruled over the subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th century. Several prominent figures from this period bore the surname, including Mehdi Quli Khan (1582-1635), a renowned poet and courtier during the reign of Emperor Jahangir.

Other notable individuals with the surname Mehdi include Ismail Mehdi (1917-1991), an Iraqi politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Iraq from 1966 to 1967, and Mehdi Bazargan (1907-1995), an Iranian scholar, academic, and politician who briefly served as the first Prime Minister of Iran after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

The surname Mehdi has also been carried by various artists, writers, and intellectuals throughout history, such as the Iranian poet and writer Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1928-1990) and the Egyptian novelist and short story writer Mehdi Issa al-Saqqa (1921-2013).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mehdi

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

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

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

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