Mohammadi: the most-carried surname in Iran, and a prayer wearing a suffix.The name is Arabic-rooted, the ending is Persian, and the register that froze them together is a 1925 law. 101 names below, ten layers, every receipt on its row.
Persia is not Arabia. Many words here arrived through Arabic script, but the endings that build the surname are Persian. The Arabic last names page owns the neighboring lane, both directions named.
What are persian last names?
One suffix did most of the work. The -i ending means of or from, and it turned holy names, city names and poet names into family names at a stroke: Hosseini of Husayn, Tehrani of Tehran, Hafezi of the poet Hafez. Under that run the born-of endings, -zadeh and -pour and -nejad, and beside them the tribal names, the Qajar titles and the Armenian-Iranian -ian lane. Every row keeps its layer tag, and the Arabic-rooted words name the Arabic lane rather than borrowing its glosses twice.
Grouped by layer. The layer stays on every row.
Persian last names with layer, build and meaning receipts
Name
Layer
Built from
Meaning
Copy
The frequency ledger: Iran’s most-carried names, civil-registration counts as published
Mohammadi
ledger, Iran top set
Muhammad + i
of Muhammad, the praised one: Iran’s most-carried surname (723,166 records, as published by Mehr News)
Hosseini
ledger, Iran top set
Husayn + i
of Husayn, the Imam’s line: second most-carried; the Arabic lane spells it Husseini, the same name said the Arabic way
Ahmadi
ledger, Iran top set
Ahmad + i
of Ahmad, the praised one, the thanked one
Ali
ledger, Iran top set
Ali
the high, the exalted: the plain given name worn as surname (the Arabic lane’s same name)
Moradi
ledger, Iran top set
Morad + i
of Morad, the desired one
Karimi
ledger, Iran top set
Karim + i
of Karim, the generous one
Rezaei
ledger, Iran top set
Reza + i
of Reza, the content, the satisfied one
Rahimi
ledger, Iran top set
Rahim + i
of Rahim, the merciful one
Akbari
ledger, Iran top set
Akbar + i
of Akbar, the greatest
Sadeghi
ledger, Iran top set
Sadeq + i
of Sadeq, the truthful one
Kazemi
ledger, Iran top set
Kazem + i
of Kazem, the one who holds his anger: the Imam’s epithet
Ebrahimi
ledger, Iran top set
Ebrahim + i
of Abraham, the father of many
Soleimani
ledger, Iran top set
Soleiman + i
of Solomon, the peaceful king
The theophoric -i layer: Arabic-script holy names worn the Persian way
Mousavi
theophoric -i
Musa al-Kazim + i
of Musa, the seventh Imam’s line
Razavi
theophoric -i
Imam Reza + i
of Reza, the Mashhad shrine line
Jafari
theophoric -i
Ja’far al-Sadiq + i
of Ja’far, the sixth Imam’s line
Mahdavi
theophoric -i
Mahdi + i
of the Mahdi, the guided one
Nabavi
theophoric -i
Nabi + i
of the Prophet
Emami
theophoric -i
Imam + i
of the Imam
Ghaffari
theophoric -i
Ghaffar + i
of the All-Forgiving’s name
Sajjadi
theophoric -i
Sajjad + i
of Sajjad, the prostrating one, the fourth Imam
Ghasemi
theophoric -i
Qasim + i
of Qasim, the one who shares out
Yousefi
theophoric -i
Yousef + i
of Joseph, the dreamer
Esmaili
theophoric -i
Esmail + i
of Ishmael, the heard one
Modarresi
theophoric -i
modarres + i
of the teacher-cleric
Amini
theophoric -i
Amin + i
of Amin, the trustworthy
Vaziri
theophoric -i
vazir + i
of the vizier, the minister
Mostofi
theophoric -i
mostoufi + i
of the account-keeper: the old finance-clerk families (family-account label)
The born-of endings: -zadeh, -pour and -nejad: born of, son of, descent of
Ahmadzadeh
born-of, -zadeh
Ahmad + zadeh
born of Ahmad: -zadeh means born of
Mohammadzadeh
born-of, -zadeh
Mohammad + zadeh
born of Mohammad
Rezazadeh
born-of, -zadeh
Reza + zadeh
born of Reza: the Olympic weightlifter’s receipt
Karimzadeh
born-of, -zadeh
Karim + zadeh
born of Karim, the generous one
Hosseinzadeh
born-of, -zadeh
Hossein + zadeh
born of Husayn, the Imam’s line
Naderpour
born-of, -pour
Nader + pour
son of Nader: -pour is the old Persian son-of, the poet Nader Naderpour’s own
Ebrahimpour
born-of, -pour
Ebrahim + pour
son of Abraham
Mahdipour
born-of, -pour
Mahdi + pour
son of the guided one
Karimpour
born-of, -pour
Karim + pour
son of the generous one
Alinejad
born-of, -nejad
Ali + nejad
of Ali’s race, Ali’s line: -nejad means descent of, the journalist’s receipt
Irannejad
born-of, -nejad
Iran + nejad
of Iran’s line: the patriotic coin of the law era
The toponymic -i layer: the city names, said with the ending on
Tehrani
toponymic -i
Tehran + i
of Tehran
Shirazi
toponymic -i
Shiraz + i
of Shiraz, the city of poets
Esfahani
toponymic -i
Esfahan + i
of Esfahan, the city its own people call half the world
Mashhadi
toponymic -i
Mashhad + i
of Mashhad, the shrine city: also worn by pilgrims who reached it
Tabrizi
toponymic -i
Tabriz + i
of Tabriz
Kashani
toponymic -i
Kashan + i
of Kashan, the velvet city
Qazvini
toponymic -i
Qazvin + i
of Qazvin
Hamedani
toponymic -i
Hamedan + i
of Hamedan, the old Ecbatana
Gilani
toponymic -i
Gilan + i
of Gilan, the silk province
Yazdi
toponymic -i
Yazd + i
of Yazd, the desert city
Kermani
toponymic -i
Kerman + i
of Kerman
Zanjani
toponymic -i
Zanjan + i
of Zanjan
Semnani
toponymic -i
Semnan + i
of Semnan
Nahavandi
toponymic -i
Nahavand + i
of Nahavand
Bandari
toponymic -i
bandar + i
of the port, the Gulf south
Rashti
toponymic -i
Rasht + i
of Rasht, the north city
The takhallus lane: poets’ pen-names that families wear today
Hafezi
takhallus, poet lane
Hafez + i
the family form of Hafez, the takhallus of the poet who memorized the Quran
Mowlavi
takhallus, poet lane
Mowlana + i
our master: Rumi’s title, worn as a family name
Saadi
takhallus, poet lane
Sa’d + i
of Sa’d, the poet of the Gulistan and the Bustan
Ferdowsi
takhallus, poet lane
ferdows + i
of paradise: the Shahnameh poet’s takhallus, worn today
Nezami
takhallus, poet lane
nezam + i
of the order, the string of pearls: the Ganja poet’s takhallus
Rumi
takhallus, poet lane
Rum + i
of Rum, Anatolia: the poet of Konya’s label, carried as a modern surname
Khayyami
takhallus, poet lane
khayyam + i
the tent-maker root: the mathematician-poet’s family form
Qajar titles frozen into surnames: the honors the register inherited
Amiri
Qajar title frozen
amir + i
of the amir, the commander
Sardari
Qajar title frozen
sardar + i
of the sardar, the field commander
Hakimi
Qajar title frozen
hakim + i
of the hakim, the ruler-physician
Moshiri
Qajar title frozen
moshir + i
of the moshir, the counselor-vizier
Arbabi
Qajar title frozen
arbab + i
of the arbab, the estate lord
Khani
Qajar title frozen
khan + i
of the khan, the lord: the title the 1925 era demoted and the surname kept
Maleki
Qajar title frozen
malek + i
of the malek, the king, the owner
Soltani
Qajar title frozen
soltan + i
of the sultan
Dolatshahi
Qajar title frozen
dolat + shah + i
of the king’s state: the Qajar noble house (family-account label)
Farmanfarmaian
Qajar title frozen
farman + farma + ian
the commander of commands: the Farman Farma princely title gone family (family-account label)
Dynasty names and the 1925 era: the adoption receipts of the law years
Pahlavi
dynasty, 1925 era
Pahlavi, the Middle Persian lane
Reza Shah’s chosen dynasty name: the old language’s own name
Qajar
dynasty, 1925 era
Qajar
the dynasty name carried by its descendants
Alam
dynasty, 1925 era
alam
the standard, the banner: the Qajar-descended noble house of Birjand (family-account label)
Mossadegh
dynasty, 1925 era
sadeq root
the truthful root: the statesman’s family name
Bahar
dynasty, 1925 era
bahar
spring: the poet laureate chose the season for his surname
Daneshvar
dynasty, 1925 era
danesh + var
the knowledge-bearing, the learned
Hedayat
dynasty, 1925 era
hedayat
guidance: the old Tehran notable family, the writer’s line
Nafisi
dynasty, 1925 era
nafis + i
of the precious one: the old Tehran family of booksellers and scholars (family-account label)
Nature, virtue and craft words: plain Persian words chosen as names
Golzar
word name
gol + zar
the rose garden, the rose field
Bahari
word name
bahar + i
of spring
Mehraban
word name
mehr + ban
the kind one: literally the sun-keeper
Dadgar
word name
dad + gar
the justice-bringer
Delshad
word name
del + shad
the happy heart
Azadi
word name
azadi
freedom: the word itself, a modern coin
Tavakoli
word name
tavakol + i
of reliance on God
Niknam
word name
nik + nam
the good-named one
Nikbakht
word name
nik + bakht
of good fortune
Sharifi
word name
sharif + i
of the noble one
The tribal layer: tribe names worn as family names
Afshar
tribal name
the Afshar tribe
the tribe of Nader Shah
Zand
tribal name
Zand
the line of Karim Khan of Shiraz
Qashqai
tribal name
Qashqai
the southern tribal confederation
Bakhtiari
tribal name
Bakhtiari
the Zagros tribe
Kordi
tribal name
kord + i
of the Kurds
The Armenian-Iranian -ian lane: Iran’s oldest Christian community, its own ending
Sarkissian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Sarkis + ian
of Sarkis: the Armenian son-of ending said on Iranian ground
Petrosian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Petros + ian
of Peter, the rock: the chess champion’s receipt
Stepanian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Stepan + ian
of Stephen, the crown
Hovhannisian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Hovhannes + ian
of John, the grace
Nazarian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Nazar + ian
of Nazar (the root is debated)
Toumanian
Armenian-Iranian, -ian
Touman + ian
of the tuman, the coin: the Lori poet’s line
1925: the year Iran chose surnames
One law, one register, one afternoon of choosing. Civil registration began in 1918 and the nationwide surname mandate arrived in 1925 under Reza Shah: every Iranian had to hold a fixed family name. Families picked holy names, city names, poet names, tribal names, and the new coinages of the moment, Azadi among them. The old honorifics, Khan and Amir and Sardar, were set aside as titles and walked straight into the register as surnames.
When a state assigns surnames on a deadline, the assignment itself is the story. The how surnames work guide walks the same pattern across every tradition on this site, and the last names hub tables the nationality lanes beside this one.
The endings that build a surname
Four endings decode most of the phone book. The -i ending is the relative suffix: Tehrani of Tehran, Shirazi of Shiraz, Hosseini of Husayn. The -zadeh ending means born of: Ahmadzadeh is Ahmad’s son. The -pour ending is the old Persian son-of: Naderpour, the poet’s own. The -nejad ending means descent of: Alinejad, of Ali’s line. And the -ian ending is the Armenian-Iranian lane, Iran’s oldest Christian community keeping its own patronymic beside the Persian set.
The plain-word names, Golzar and Bahar and Mehraban, sit outside the suffix engine entirely. They are words worn whole, most of them chosen in the law years when a family had to write something down. The last names with meanings index holds the A-to-Z of the same habit elsewhere.
The poets’ pen-names became families
Hafez was a takhallus, a pen-name, and it meant a man who had memorized the Quran. Rumi means of Rum, Anatolia, the poet of Konya. Ferdowsi is of paradise, from ferdows. Saadi, Nezami, Khayyami: the classical poets signed with these labels, and families wear the forms today, Hafezi and Mowlavi among them. A poet’s working name became a dynasty’s label, which is the most Persian receipt on the page.
One word stays in prose by rule. Attar, the druggist-poet, is a takhallus too, but the Arabic last names lane holds the word attar as its own row, so this page cites it and steps aside. One dataset, one owner.
Three systems, one neighborhood
Persia, the Arab world, Turkey: three different surname machines. The shape:
The region’s three surname systems
Lane
System
Example receipts
Persia
the -i and born-of endings, fixed by the 1925 law
Tehrani, Rezazadeh, Hosseini
The Arab world
the nisba and ibn system, centuries of genealogy
Husseini, Ibn Sina, the Arabic lane’s set
Turkey
the 1934 law: every family chose, most chose Turkish words
Mohammadi. Iran’s civil-registration counts as published by Mehr News put it first with about 723,000 records, and Hosseini second with about 497,000. Both are theophoric: a holy name plus the Persian -i ending. The engine that built the top of the list is the same engine that built most rows on this page.
Why do Persian last names end in -i?
Because -i is the Persian relative suffix. It means of, from, pertaining to. Tehrani is of Tehran. Hosseini is of Husayn. Shirazi is of Shiraz, the city of poets. Beside it sit the born-of endings: -zadeh means born of, -pour is the old son-of, -nejad means descent of. Learn four endings and most Persian surnames decode on sight. The how surnames work guide walks the same habit across every tradition on this site.
Are Persian and Arabic last names the same?
Two ledgers, honestly split. Many Persian surnames wear Arabic-rooted given names, because Islam carried the names to Iran. But the endings that build the surname are Persian: Hosseini is the Arabic name Husayn plus the Persian -i. The Arabic naming system, the nisba and the ibn lines, is its own tradition, and the Arabic last names page owns it. This page names that lane on every shared row, and the Arabic name generator carries the given-name side.
Where these names come from.Frequency figures cite Iran’s civil-registration counts as published by Mehr News (Mohammadi about 723,000 records, Hosseini about 497,000), verified at build; exact counts shift between releases, so the ledger carries tier tags. The 1918-1925 registration history and the honorific conversions cite standard Iranian historiography. Poet takhallus glosses cite the classical sources. Family-account rows (Mostofi, Dolatshahi, Farmanfarmaian, Alam, Nafisi) carry the label, and contested roots are flagged in-row. The Arabic-rooted rows name the Arabic lane rather than forking its glosses. Where every name's receipt comes from →