Pakistan Naming Customs

Pakistan Wiki Topics

Pakistan Beginning Research

Finding Town of Origin Getting Started Record Finder Research Strategies

Record Types

Cemeteries Census Church Directories Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Compiled Genealogies Court Records Directories Emigration & Immigration Land & Property Military Records Naturalization & Citizenship Newspapers Online Genealogy Records Probate Records Religious Records Taxation

Pakistan Background

Church History Gazetteers History Languages Maps Naming Customs Periodicals Social Life & Customs

Pakistan Genealogical Word Lists

Latin

Cultural Groups

Cultural Groups

Local Research Resources

Archives & Libraries Societies Local FamilySearch Center

Germany

Naming Customs

Understanding customs used in surnames and given names can help you identify your ancestors in records. Learn to recognize name variations and see clues in names.

Online Tools

• Behind the Name: Pakistan Surnames
• Behind the Name: Pakistan Given Names
• Category:Pakistani masculine given names in Wikipedia
• Category:Pakistani feminine given names in Wikipedia
• List of Pakistani family names organized by tribes
• FamilySearch's surname experience - enter your last name to find its meaning and origin

Surnames

• Pakistani surnames are basically divided in three categories: Arab naming convention, tribal or caste names and ancestral names.

• Family names indicating Arab ancestry, e.g. Shaikh, Siddiqui, Abbasi, Syed, Zaidi, Khawaja, Naqvi, Farooqi, Osmani, Alavi, Hassani, and Husseini.

• People claiming Afghan ancestry include those with family names ځاځي dzādzi Durrani, Gardezi, Suri, Yousafzai, Afridi, Mullagori, Mohmand, Khattak, Wazir, Mehsud, Niazi.
• Family names indicating Turkish heritage include Mughal, (cheema) Baig or Beg, Pasha, Barlas, and Seljuki.
• People claiming Indian ancestry include those with family names Barelwi, Lakhnavi, Delhvi, Godharvi, Bilgrami, and Rajput.
• People claiming Iranian ancestry include those with family names Agha, Bukhari, Firdausi, Ghazali, Gilani, Hamadani, Isfahani, Kashani, Kermani, Khorasani, Farooqui, Mir, Mirza, Montazeri, Nishapuri, Noorani, Kayani, Qizilbash, Saadi, Sabzvari, Shirazi, Sistani, Suhrawardi, Yazdani, Zahedi, and Zand.
• Tribal names include Abro Afaqi, Afridi, Khogyani (Khakwani), Amini,[Ansari] Ashrafkhel, Awan, Bajwa, Baloch, Barakzai, Baranzai, Bhatti, Bhutto, Ranjha, Bijarani, Bizenjo, Brohi, Khetran, Bugti, Butt, Farooqui, Gabol, Ghaznavi, Ghilzai, Gichki, Gujjar, Jamali, Jamote, Janjua, Jatoi, Jutt Joyo, Junejo, Karmazkhel, Kayani, Khar, Khattak, Khuhro, Lakhani, Leghari, Lodhi, Magsi, Malik, Mandokhel, Mayo, Marwat, Mengal, Mughal, Palijo, Paracha, Panhwar, Phul, Popalzai, Qureshi & qusmani, Rabbani, Raisani, Rakhshani, Sahi, Swati, Soomro, Sulaimankhel, Talpur, Talwar, Thebo, Yousafzai, and Zamani.
• Family names indicating Turkish/ Kurd ancestry, Dogar.

In Pakistan, the official paperwork format regarding personal identity is as follows:

So and so, son of so and so, of such and such tribe or clan and religion and resident of such and such place. For example, Amir Khan s/o Fakeer Khan, tribe Mughal Kayani or Chauhan Rajput, Follower of religion Islam, resident of Village Anywhere, Tehsil Anywhere, District.

Given Names

• Since the Muslim conquest of the Indus Valley, the majority of Pakistani given names are derived from Persian, Arabic and Turkish names.
• Children may be given one, two or rarely three names at birth. If the person has more than one given name, one of them is chosen as the person's most called name, by which he is called or referred to informally.
• Generally for males, Muhammad, the name of the last prophet of Islam, is chosen to be the person's first given name, if he has more than one. Because of the prevalence of this practice, this name is usually not the person's most called name, as it does not serve as a unique identifier.
• Ali is the 2nd most common given name for males in Pakistan.
• Female names tend to be more mixed and are usually given two names.

For Further Reading

• A GUIDE TO NAMES AND NAMING PRACTICES, UK Names Guide
• Arabic personal names (CIA)

FamilySearch Library

Additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog:

• Pakistan - Names, Personal