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

Rahman, 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 Rahman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rahman in America

Rahman is the 1994th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rahman surname appeared 18,097 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Rahman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rahman 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 Rahman

The surname Rahman is of Arabic origin, deriving from the Arabic word "Rahman" meaning "the most merciful" or "the beneficent". It is considered a descriptive name referring to the attribute of mercy and compassion.

The name has its roots in the Islamic faith and is often found among Muslim communities throughout the world. Its earliest recorded usage can be traced back to the 7th century, during the time of the Islamic expansion across the Middle East and North Africa.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rahman can be found in the "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), a renowned anthology of Arabic poetry compiled in the 9th century by Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani. The book mentions several poets and scholars bearing the name Rahman.

In the 11th century, the name appears in the writings of the famous Persian scholar and poet, Ferdowsi, who is known for his epic work, the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings). He mentions a character named Rahman in one of his stories.

During the Mughal period in India (16th-19th centuries), the name Rahman was prevalent among Muslim populations in the region. One notable figure was Abdul Rahman Khan, a military commander who served under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the late 17th century.

Another prominent figure with the surname Rahman was Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), a renowned philosopher, poet, and politician from British India, who is widely regarded as the spiritual father of Pakistan.

In more recent history, Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou (1930-1989) was a prominent Kurdish politician and leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, who was assassinated in Vienna in 1989.

Other notable individuals with the surname Rahman include:

1. Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975), the founding President of Bangladesh.
2. Atiqur Rahman (born 1934), a Bangladeshi writer and academic.
3. Badruzzaman Rahman (born 1937), a Bangladeshi writer and journalist.
4. Anisur Rahman (born 1942), a Bangladeshi poet and academic.
5. Mokhlesur Rahman (born 1959), a Bangladeshi poet and writer.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rahman

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

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

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

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