Najjar last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Najjar

An occupational surname traditionally referring to a carpenter or woodworker.

Najjar, 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 Najjar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Najjar in America

Najjar is the 17682nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Najjar surname appeared 1,587 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Najjar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Najjar 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 17682 17763 -0.46%
Count 1,587 1,454 8.75%
Proportion per 100k 0.54 0.54 0.00%

The history of the last name Najjar

The surname "NAJJAR" is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "najjar" which means "carpenter" or "woodworker" in Arabic. This occupational surname originated in the Middle East and North Africa during the medieval period, particularly in areas with significant Arab influence and settlement.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname "NAJJAR" can be traced back to the 8th century AD, when Arabic became the dominant language in the region. Historical records from this time period, such as legal documents, court records, and manuscripts, often mention individuals bearing this surname, indicating their occupation as carpenters or woodworkers.

One notable historical reference is the 10th-century manuscript "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), which mentions a famous musician and poet named Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani al-Najjar (897-967 AD). This suggests that the surname "NAJJAR" was well-established among Arab communities by this time.

During the medieval period, the surname "NAJJAR" was particularly prevalent in regions like Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and the Levant, where Arab culture and Islamic civilization flourished. As trade and migration patterns evolved, the surname spread to other parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and eventually to other parts of the world.

One notable figure from history with the surname "NAJJAR" is Ibn al-Najjar (1210-1285 AD), an Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad, who made significant contributions to the field of optics and wrote several treatises on the subject.

Another prominent individual was Abul Hasan Ali ibn Abi al-Rijal al-Najjar (1259-1330 AD), a Syrian historian and writer who documented the history of Damascus and its surrounding regions during the Mamluk period.

In the 15th century, Nur al-Din al-Najjar (1435-1508 AD), a Syrian scholar and theologian, gained recognition for his works on Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time.

During the Ottoman era, the surname "NAJJAR" continued to be associated with skilled craftsmen and woodworkers. One notable figure was Ahmed al-Najjar (1570-1635 AD), a renowned Ottoman architect who designed and constructed several mosques and public buildings in Istanbul and other parts of the Ottoman Empire.

Throughout history, the surname "NAJJAR" has been found in various place names and older spellings, such as "Najjarah" or "Najari," reflecting regional variations and linguistic influences. These place names often referred to areas where carpenters or woodworkers were concentrated, further solidifying the occupational connection of the surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Najjar

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

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 Najjar was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 87.08% 1,382
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.64% 26
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 4.85% 77
Hispanic Origin 5.23% 83

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 Najjar has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 87.08% 80.06% 8.40%
Black (S)% 1.10% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.64% 1.17% 33.45%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races 4.85% 13.76% -95.75%
Hispanic 5.23% 3.92% 28.63%

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

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

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"Najjar last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/najjar-surname-popularity/.

"Najjar last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/najjar-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Najjar last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/najjar-surname-popularity/.

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