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

Mughal, 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 Mughal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mughal in America

Mughal is the 24370th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mughal surname appeared 1,028 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 Mughal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mughal 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 Mughal

The surname Mughal is derived from the Persian word "Mughaliyat", which means "belonging to the Mongols". This name originated in the Indian subcontinent and was first used by the Mughal Empire, a Muslim dynasty that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th century.

The Mughal Empire was founded in 1526 by Babur, a descendant of the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan and the Turkic conqueror Timur (Tamerlane). The Mughals were known for their architectural achievements, including the Taj Mahal, and their patronage of the arts and literature.

One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mughal can be found in the Akbarnama, a historical chronicle of the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542-1605). This work, written by Akbar's court historian Abul Fazl, mentions several individuals with the surname Mughal who served in the imperial administration.

During the Mughal period, the name Mughal was associated with the ruling elite and was often given to members of the imperial family or those closely associated with the court. Some notable individuals with the surname Mughal include:

1. Bairam Khan Mughal (c. 1501-1561), a military general and regent who served as the guardian and chief mentor to the young emperor Akbar.
2. Mirza Aziz Koka Mughal (c. 1542-1624), a noble and foster-brother of Akbar who served as the governor of several provinces.
3. Nur Jahan Mughal (1577-1645), the wife of the Mughal emperor Jahangir and one of the most powerful and influential women in the Mughal Empire.
4. Bahadur Shah I Mughal (1643-1712), the seventh Mughal emperor who ruled from 1707 to 1712.
5. Jahandar Shah Mughal (1661-1713), the tenth Mughal emperor who reigned for a brief period in 1712-1713.

After the decline of the Mughal Empire in the 18th century, the surname Mughal continued to be used by individuals associated with the former ruling dynasty, as well as by those who claimed descent from the Mughals or were connected to the region historically ruled by the empire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mughal

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

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

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

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