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

Samhan, 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 Samhan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Samhan in America

Samhan is the 100302nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Samhan surname appeared 180 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 Samhan.

The history of the last name Samhan

The surname "SAMHAN" is believed to have originated in the Middle East, specifically in the region of modern-day Iraq and Syria. Its roots can be traced back to the Arabic language, where it was likely derived from the word "saman," meaning "fat" or "plump."

The earliest known record of the name dates back to the 10th century, when it appeared in a manuscript detailing the lineage of a prominent family from the city of Baghdad. This document mentions a man named Samhan ibn Khalid, who was a respected scholar and poet during the Abbasid Caliphate.

In the 12th century, the name Samhan is found in the writings of the renowned historian Ibn al-Athir, who chronicled the lives of notable figures from the Islamic world. He mentions a military commander named Samhan al-Ghazi, who fought in the Crusades and was instrumental in the defense of Aleppo against the invading Christian armies.

As the centuries passed, the Samhan family spread across the Middle East and North Africa, with some members settling in regions as far as Spain during the Moorish occupation. One notable figure from this period was Abu al-Hasan Samhan al-Gharnati, a 13th-century mathematician and astronomer from Granada, who made significant contributions to the fields of algebra and trigonometry.

In the 16th century, a branch of the Samhan family migrated to the Ottoman Empire, where they established themselves as skilled artisans and merchants. One of the most prominent members of this lineage was Samhan Pasha, a high-ranking Ottoman official who served as the governor of several provinces during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, individuals bearing the surname Samhan continued to make their mark in various fields, such as literature, politics, and academia. Notable examples include the Syrian poet and journalist Samhan al-Hallaq (1870-1942), and the Iraqi writer and feminist activist Samhan al-Zaidi (1893-1967).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Samhan

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

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

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

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